Leclerc in difficulty, blurts out on the radio and ‘predicts’ the fourth row: “Either I do P8 or I’ll put it against the wall”

Saturday to be canceled It wasn’t an easy Saturday for Charles Leclerc in Montreal. After having grabbed fifth place in the Sprint, the Monegasque from Ferrari came out as a clear loser in the direct comparison with teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, showing himself to be slower than the seven-time world champion in all three phases of the session. In the end the #16 achieved the eighth fastest time and tomorrow he will start from the fourth row while Hamilton will start from fifth position on the grid, on the third row. Prescient radio team Leclerc appeared very nervous on the radio, he complained several times about the car and gave rise to a rather unusual outburst for him at the end of Q2, somehow ‘predicting’ what the final outcome of Q3 would be. “I’m completely off the pace, completely off the pace. I’ll finish Q3 either in eighth place or against the wall. We just need to make sure you give me clean air. I don’t care about anything else, just clean air. That’s all that matters,” said the Ferrari driver. Indeed, Leclerc was a good prophet, despite himself, finishing the session in P8, in last place among the four top teams who, as predicted, will monopolize the first four rows of tomorrow’s GP. Montreal is one of the favorite tracks of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, but it is clear that there are setup problems and consequently the feeling between the Monegasque and the SF-26. We’ll see if the rain forecast for tomorrow’s race can come to his aid and allow him to ‘save’ the weekend.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-24 07:16:00