Charles Leclerc frustrated after his mistake in Australia: “It’s the worst start to a season ever”

Tough weekend for the Monegasque driver. After a mix-up with his team during the final qualifying session on Saturday, Charles Leclerc’s race was cut short when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin collided with him at turn 3, causing him to spin and end up in the gravel on the opening lap.

If the Ferrari driver is not blaming the Canadian, one can sense that he is very bitter after this rather catastrophic start to the season. “I am not pointing fingers at Lance,” he said, “because I believe he didn’t have a choice once Fernando slowed down the car for the second time, and for me, it was impossible to see if Lance was staying behind Fernando or if he was just in between the two… Obviously, I didn’t think he was there,” he explained to the journalists at the microphone after his spin-off.

« In turn 3, I didn’t really intend to overtake Lance. Then, I saw that he had to brake very early because of Fernando, who was also braking very early. So, I released the brakes and positioned myself beside Lance, then Fernando had to brake even harder – Lance ended up between Fernando and me – and he couldn’t turn, and we made contact,” continued the Ferrari driver.

This is already the second retirement of the season for Charles Leclerc after Bahrain, where the electronic control system of his hybrid power unit, connected to the engine, failed halfway through the race. Following the replacement of this unit, the second one in the span of a weekend, the Ferrari driver received a 10-place grid penalty in Jeddah, where he finished 7th. The end result: only 6 points scored in these first three Grand Prix races, and a 9th position in the drivers’ standings, tied with Nico Hülkenberg.

“It’s extremely frustrating, it’s the worst start to a season of all time, really… it’s really frustrating,” concluded Leclerc.