Charles Leclerc has demanded an explanation from Ferrari in the wake of his shock early exit from qualifying at Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc led the way through third practice but was kept in the garage through the closing stages of Q1 and gradually slipped down the order.
It came after he missed the weighbridge and had to be wheeled back by Ferrari, though there was still plenty of time remaining for the youngster to return to action.
Leclerc dropped to 15th and was ultimately pushed out by team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who had been in the drop zone in the wake of abandoning an earlier effort after brushing the barriers at Piscine.
Leclerc is consequently set to start his home race from a lowly 16th on the grid, in front of only the Racing Point and Williams drivers.
“I asked whether they were sure,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.
“They told me 'we think we are'. I said 'shouldn't we go out again?' But yeah, there was no real answer.
“I think they thought we would go… I don't know. I didn't have any explanations yet in detail. It’s a very difficult one to take.
“We had plenty of time, even when we went out of the box to go out again. The weighbridge was not the problem.
“We still had the fuel to go again and only change tyres. None of this was a problem. I need some explanations.”
Leclerc said he would be willing to risk an accident in a bid to make up positions.
“Hopefully [it will] rain, and then there will be a bit of lottery in there,” he said.
“If it's dry, it's going to be boring. I'll have to take a lot of risks I think, even risking to crash.
“In the end, that's the only thing we need to do now, is to try and be extreme in our overtaking because this is a track where it's basically impossible to overtake, so we will see.”
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