A forgettable weekend for Charles Leclerc, who is focusing on Baku
While going through "the worst start of the season ever," the Monégasque is trying to forget this catastrophic weekend and hopes that things will unfold in a "more harmonious" manner in Azerbaijan.
There are days that one prefers to forget. This is the case with Sunday – and even Saturday – for Charles Leclerc, who experienced a Grand Prix weekend filled with obstacles in Melbourne. The Monegasque driver initially seems to have been a victim of a communication mishap with his team during the final qualifying session on Saturday. While his engineer tells him that they won’t do a warm-up lap, on Carlos Sainz’s side, it seems they are telling him the opposite. As a result, Charles Leclerc (once again) complains that his teammate is blocking him on the track, when he was about to start his fast lap.
Things then took a much more dramatic turn during the race on Sunday. Starting 7th on the grid, Charles Leclerc was collided with by Lance Stroll as early as turn 3, spinning out and prematurely ending his race in the gravel. It’s extremely frustrating, it’s the worst start to a season ever, really… it’s really frustrating. (Source: Charles Leclerc frustrated after his mistake in Australia: “It’s the worst start to a season ever”)
“Did he react, to the journalists’ microphones, in the heat of the moment.”
“It is regrettable to end the race in this manner today, but it is a racing incident and I don’t think we could have done anything differently,” he later explained. “It’s disappointing, but we are ready for the next race, where I hope things will go better. Hopefully for him, because with these two retirements in Bahrain and Australia, and his penalty in Saudi Arabia, the Ferrari driver only has six small points in the drivers’ standings, tied for 9th place with Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg.”
