“I Love My Team… But It Hurts”: Charles Leclerc Voices Frustration Towards Costly Ferrari F1 Debacle

While celebrations rage in the Red Bull’s paddock and even Carlos Sainz’s side of the garage; it was a heartbreak for Charles Leclerc. Notching up a pole position, the Monegasque looked all ready to finally win in Monaco. However, confusion in the pit stops led to him conceding the lead and was evident in his tone after the radio. 

As the chequered flag fell, his race engineer on the radio says “And P4”.

To this, a dejected Charles Leclerc replied, “No words, no words. Season is long but we cannot do that, we cannot do that.”

Ferrari boss, Mattia Binotto, tried consoling Charles and said in Italian, “We know Charles. Now let’s focus, there are many races. You will see that we will make up for it, so come, come”.

“Yes, I’m sure we will make up for it, but at home it hurts,” replied Charles Leclerc.

What could have been a day of glory instead turned into a game of survival. 

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The race saw a delayed start. And once racing started, the conditions were tricky. However, Leclerc managed to hold his own and started creating a gap between himself and teammate Carlos Sainz. Ferrari then pitted both Sainz and Leclerc on lap 21. Except they asked Leclerc was asked to stay out, but it was too late. A botched double stack and a not-so-great out-lap saw Charles maintain fourth until the chequered flag. 

Disappointment for Charles Leclerc and the Tifosi

In his post-race interview, Charles felt disappointed and made his feelings clear. When asked by Skysports, Leclerc made some points clear. “I love my team and I am sure I will come back stronger but it hurts a lot,” he said. 

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“…the last message that I had wasn’t clear, because I was told to stay out, but I was already in the pit lane, and that’s where I basically let it all out on the radio and screamed because I knew I was done.”  

Sharing his grief over the loss of race win, the Tifosi on Twitter too let their thoughts known. And as one user put it, “Does Monaco hate Charles Leclerc that much?”. 

Charles Leclerc now sits nine points behind Max Verstappen in the championship standings.