Ferrari's Charles Leclerc BACKS DOWN after scathing criticism of team

Charles Leclerc

Leclerc BACKS DOWN after scathing criticism of Ferrari

Charles Leclerc admits "adrenaline" got the better of him during qualifying on Saturday after his furious reaction to exiting in Q2

Dan McCarthy

Sunday 18 June 2023 19:27 Updated: 19:55

Charles Leclerc has rolled back on his criticism of Ferrari after qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, saying "adrenaline" got the better of him.

Leclerc was furious with the decision to keep him on intermediate tyres in qualifying despite the fact he felt the track was more suited to slicks.

That meant he could not improve on his first lap time and he failed to get into Q3 to have a shot at claiming pole position,

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Leclerc screamed "COME ON" down the team radio and was audibly very frustrated as Ferrari's decision-making was called into question yet again.

However, a calmer Leclerc sought to make amends when interrupting an interview on Sky Sports F1 with team principal Fred Vasseur.

Leclerc had an unhappy qualifying session

"After qualifying there is adrenaline, and obviously the desire to do well," he clarified. "In the end there were many of us on the same strategy, it's me who didn't make it compared to the others,

"I didn't do a great job. Maybe I let myself go a little, because there's a lot of passion and desire to do well and today didn't go the way we wanted."

Vasseur sympathises with Leclerc

This season has been one of struggles for Ferrari who have been well off the pace of Red Bull at the sharp end of the grid.

Aston Martin and Mercedes have leapfrogged them and the Scuderia have only managed to finish on the podium once this season, with Leclerc ending the Azerbaijan race third.

Once again, despite a change of team principal, they have been plagued with strategic errors and Saturday's qualifying session can be counted as one of them.

“I fully understand Leclerc's frustration, which probably increased after what we saw yesterday," the Ferrari chief admitted.

"He expected a lot from qualifying, but they didn't go as hoped. We had a conversation when he calmed down and it was very helpful.

”I don't want to blame him for the mistake, it happened."