Charles Leclerc was left to rue what he described as a “stupid crash” in FP1 for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, which casued significant damage to his Ferrari and ruled him out the rest of the day.
Leclerc was running at the top of the timesheets early in the first free practice session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before a lock-up at Turn 3 saw him skidding into the wall at Turn 4.
The crash brought out the red flags and curtailed his afternoon’s running, with the Ferrari mechanics unable to fix his broken SF-25 before FP2 later in the afternoon.
Afterwards, Leclerc spoke of his remorse at the incident, and revealed that the SF-25’s chassis was damaged sufficiently enough to prevent him from jumping back in the car later in the day.
“First of all, I feel sorry for the whole team, because that’s never something you want,” he said. “It was a very stupid crash. I had a lock-up, I thought I would make the corner anyway. I knew I would go on the grass but I thought that was enough to not touch the wall.
“Unforuntately, when I touched the wall, I ended-up in the grass and I understood there was no room anymore. It’s just a misjudgement, but a misjudgement that cost a lot because then the way the wheel has touched the chassis, and basically cracked the chassis, and we cannot use two chassis on the same day so that meant that basically the whole day not in the car.
“That hurts because obviously that cost us quite a few laps around today, but the very positive thing is that I felt very confident with the car, and we were quite competitive for whatever it’s worth, because it was only the third [push] lap of the day.”
Leclerc however intimated that he would not dwell on the crash for too long, and was assured that he will bounce back in time for FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.
“It doesn’t hurt my confidence, and I’m sure that it won’t hurt my weekend at all,” he commented. “I’m sure I’ll be up to speed in Qualifying. How competitive we will be is another matter, and then we’ll have to see. But I’m sure that personally I’ll be 100%.”
Hamilton says making Q3 will be ‘a challenge’
Despite a spin shortly after practice resumed, Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton made it through the afternoon without incident, but conveyed far less confidence in the car compared to the Monegasque.
Hamilton was four-tenths adrift of top spot in FP1, and five off in FP2, leaving him to once again ruminate on a difficult day’s work in the car.
“Not great, not particularly great,” he said of his day. “I love driving here and the crowd’s been amazing today, but the car is a lot different to what I’ve experienced here in the past.
“I think P1 was alright, then we made some changes. Honestly, I thought the car was quicker, and we just went slower, or they [our rivals] went quicker.”
Hamilton stated that he felt reaching the final part of qualifying would be a huge task, and whilst he did not rule it out, summarised that anything close to fifth place would be a stretch.
“I don’t know [what’s possible],” he said. “I think it will be a challenge to get into Q3 at this rate, but not impossible. Then I think trying to fight to get into the top five is going to be tough.”
The miserable Friday on track for Ferrari was culminated by Team Principal Fred Vasseur’s damning take down of media speculation regarding his future in the team, saying that the “stupid” rumours were hurting the team.
READ MORE – Fred Vasseur launches explosive response to ‘stupid’ Ferrari F1 rumours
