Charles Leclerc has finally broken his silence after a high-speed crash ended his Italian Grand Prix at Monza just a few laps into the race.
The incident happened on lap two as Leclerc battled hard with Oscar Piastri for fourth place. Exiting the Parabolica corner, Charles Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari on the throttle. His left-side tyres touched the dirty, green-painted area on the outside of the track, and although he initially caught the slide, the sudden grip fired him into the tyre barrier with significant force. The race was red-flagged to allow for recovery and cleanup.
"When I got on the power, I didn't feel the car was quite right. I went off, and there was quite a bit of power then, and I lost the car, but I have to look at the data. I haven't checked it yet," Leclerc told Sky Sports. He also commented on his lap-one clash with teammate Lewis Hamilton, which forced the Briton to run through the gravel. "For the start, not much to say. Lewis tried to overtake. There wasn't much space there, and then I tried to make Turn 2 as tight as I possibly could."
For Ferrari, the Italian Grand Prix was a day to forget, with problems throughout the race, including for Hamilton, who finished sixth. Team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted it was a very tough day, starting from the start and lap one. "Charles was side-by-side with Oscar at the last corner, Parabolica, and he went a little bit on the dirty side of the track. He lost the car," Vasseur explained. "I haven't spoken with him, but he was okay, okay-ish, and I hope he will be really okay. He destroyed the car, and the engine is not in good shape either."
Reflecting on a difficult weekend, Vasseur added, "The positive of the weekend is the pace was decent on one lap, but we missed too many opportunities today." The crash adds to Ferrari's long list of disappointments at their home race, and the Maranello team will surely conduct a deep review to bounce back at the next round.
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