Charles Leclerc: I am ashamed of my mistake, it must be tough to stick with me

But the 'bus' reversed and reversed over Leclerc today during qualifying as the Monaco Kid binned it again, all by himself, chasing his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Briton will line up in the #44 Ferrari P2 on the grid for Sunday's race. The #16 Red car will be pushed into the P10 slot. 

Leclerc admitted he felt "ashamed and disappointed" after crashing his Ferrari in qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, throwing away what he believed could have been a pole position challenge.

The Ferrari driver lost control of his SF26 at Turn 4 during the decisive stages of qualifying, bringing a frustrating end to what had otherwise been one of his strongest weekends of the season.

The mistake came just a week after Leclerc's troubled Monaco Grand Prix ended in the barriers. On that occasion he pointed to brake issues as a contributing factor. In Barcelona, however, there was no such explanation.

Reflecting on a missed opportunity, he told reporters in the TV pen, "Another what if. Unfortunately, last week was the same: what if we didn't have that issue? This weekend, it's what if I hadn't made that mistake? I just felt ashamed of not putting everything together on what had been a very positive weekend so far.

"The feeling is back, and I'm still optimistic for tomorrow, but I should be starting higher up, and I'm not because of a mistake of mine. I feel ashamed and disappointed. I feel ashamed for disappointing so many people that are supporting us, and yeah, it must be tough to stick with me."

The crash was particularly painful given Ferrari's pace throughout the weekend. While teammate Lewis Hamilton continued his recent resurgence and secured a front-row start, Leclerc's error left him facing an uphill battle on race day.

Leclerc revealed he had been pushing hard through a lap he believed was competitive enough to fight at the front: "The lap was really good, I think. We were strongest in nearly every corner. Turn 4 was the weakest corner for me.

"I released the brakes, and I think I carried quite a lot more speed into the corner, which was okay in the middle of the corner, but I ended up on the dirtier part of the track and lost the car. But there are no excuses. It's a mistake."

Despite the setback, Monegasque remains positive: "I think we can do well tomorrow. The upgrade was a good step forward, and I will push to make up as many positions as possible and bring home a positive result for the team."

Despite the disappointment, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes Leclerc can still recover significant ground during Sunday's race: 'Of course we are disappointed for Charles, as we could have secured a much better team outcome.

"He felt he had what he needed to take pole, and he had been on the pace in all the sessions. He just pushed a little too hard. But it is what it is, and tomorrow's race will be a long one, and with the likelihood of tyre degradation being a factor.

"Charles can fight back. In the race we can play our cards to bring home a strong team result," declared the Ferrari F1 boss. For Leclerc, the challenge now is turning another painful qualifying setback into damage limitation on Sunday.

Ferrari's upgrades appear to have delivered a genuine step forward in performance, but after another self-inflicted error, he will need a strong recovery drive to prevent Hamilton from gaining further momentum in the internal battle at Maranello.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Barcelona)