Charles Leclerc’s confidence paid ‘the price’ in Monaco GP qualifying
6th June 2026Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has claimed he lacked complete confidence going into qualifying, which paid ‘the price’ for his P4 position at this home Monaco Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Ferrari Media Centre
Leclerc has claimed he has endured a tough weekend at his home event, despite a promising start in the opening practice, and seemingly perceived as being competitive at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Monegasque entered his home race weekend with a strong head start with the fastest lap around the streets of Monaco, in FP1, heading a 1-2 for Ferrari, although he had some troubling issues early on with a couple of escape road excursions.
However, despite finishing second overall in FP2 and FP3, behind teammate Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ eventual polesitter, Kimi Antonelli, the Monegasque reported problems with his brakes, calling them ‘horrendous’ in the final hour of practice.
As such, the Ferrari driver suggested he didn’t have complete confidence for qualifying, stating if a driver enters qualifying ‘without full confidence, you can pay the price.’ He said:
“It’s been a tough weekend for me, right from the first session. I’ve been struggling to get the right feeling in the car and have been facing some issues, which I am sure we will find solutions for soon. But on a track like this, if you go into qualifying without full confidence, you can pay the price.
“Today, it was a combination of different factors that played a role, and unfortunately, I didn’t finish my last flying lap in Q3, which means I will start from the second row tomorrow.”
Hamilton gave ‘it absolutely everything’ after P3 in Monaco GP qualifying
Despite Leclerc’s reportedly troubled weekend, the Monegasque will still start his home race on the second row of the grid after qualifying fourth overall, one position behind Hamilton, and behind Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who will start on the front row.
Leclerc had to scrap his final run and park his car down an access road at the end of qualifying, after the Monaco race winner touched the barrier at Tabac. Onboards showed the Monegasque suffered oversteer as he threw his car into the left-hander and, as he tried to collect it, Leclerc tapped the right-side barrier, damaging his car in the process.
Deputy Team Principal, Jerome D’Ambrosio, claimed the qualifying result of third and fourth leaves the squad with mixed feelings after missing out on pole position, claiming Leclerc’s contact with the barrier was ‘in the mix.’
“The result leaves us with mixed feelings,” D’Ambrosio commented. “On the one hand, having both cars on the second row is a solid outcome in such a competitive qualifying session. On the other, Charles’ last lap was in the mix until he touched the wall at Tabac corner, which is encouraging.
“Lewis struggled with the car balance during qualifying but managed to put in a strong lap in at the end which allowed us to lock out the second row.”
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Antonelli pips Verstappen to seal Monaco Grand Prix pole
- Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur to miss Saturday running after medical checks
- McLaren fined for technical breach at Monaco GP
- Hamilton tops second practice at Monaco Grand Prix
- Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 at Monaco Grand Prix practice
- Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc summoned to stewards ahead of Monaco GP
- Why the Monaco Grand Prix Two-Stop mandate failed
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
