Monaco Grand Prix polesitter Charles Leclerc says he is worried about the risk of a grid penalty in the wake of his crash at the end of Q3.
Leclerc secured provisional pole position through the first Q3 push runs in Monaco but made a mistake upon entry to the second part of the Piscine chicane.
The impact broke the right-front of Leclerc’s SF21 and left him helpless to avoid a heavier crash at the exit of the corner.
The accident brought out the red flags, denying his rivals the opportunity to improve, and sealing an eighth career pole for Leclerc.
But Ferrari is concerned that the impact has caused damage to the gearbox in Leclerc’s SF21.
If a gearbox change is required then Leclerc faces a mandatory drop of five grid positions.
If Ferrari detects further damage, such as to the chassis itself, he risks having to start from the pit lane.
“For now I’m just worried about the rear of the car,” he said. “I hope it is okay. It doesn’t look okay but let’s wait and see.”
Discussing the session Leclerc conceded to “mixed feelings because with the crash I don’t know where I’m starting tomorrow yet.
“It depends on the damage on the car, I hope the car is not damaged enough [such that] we won’t be starting from the back.
“If it is not the case I’m incredibly happy with what happened before the crash.
“It wasn’t a great lap, the last one, and I tried to do more in the last sector but there was too much to recover and I did too much, touched the wall in the inside and went straight to the wall.”
Leclerc also explained that he found it “very difficult to manage the whole session” on account of having the chance to fight for pole on home turf.
“It was very difficult for me to manage the whole session, I was very emotional after Q2 obviously, because I’ve seen that there was actually an opportunity to do pole here.
“I calmed myself down, did a great lap Q3 run one then what happened happened.”
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