Leclerc: “Unacceptable mistake, I’m very disappointed in myself”

Horror ending for the Monegasque Charles Leclerc had started the Miami GP perfectly, avoiding the chaos around him and taking the lead of the race. The horsepower of the Mercedes-powered teams then relegated him to what looked like a final third position after recovering the podium from the detriment of Max Verstappen who had shifted the strategy by anticipating the switch to the hard tire by taking advantage of the Safety Car. Oscar Piastri, however, caught up with Charles Leclerc in the final stages who spun in Turn-3 on the last lap, damaging his Ferrari SF-26. The Monegasque finished in sixth place, but could be penalized for the whole domino effect resulting from the error between track cuts and contacts at the end (in this case with George Russell). “There were no problems on the wing – Leclerc admitted to Sky’s microphones with great frankness – the idea was to let Piastri pass to have the overtake, I wasn’t strong enough in the second sector, I had no more rubber there, so I knew that having this overtake in the last corner was the thing to do, unfortunately after that I managed turns 1-2-3 very badly, it’s an unacceptable mistake, it was an almost perfect start to the season, I can’t make this mistake allow me to, so I’m very angry, I’m very disappointed in myself, up to that point it was a very good race, the pace wasn’t there, but we did our best, I’m disappointed with the team and on the last lap I threw everything in the bin”. During the race, Leclerc had asked for explanations for the pit stop without a prior discussion: “We need to manage some things a little better, but in the end we had maximized the result until it was my mistake.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-05-04 05:40:00