Leclerc hints at technical issues after "struggling to get the right feeling in the car"

Ferrari entered Monaco qualifying with high expectations after showing strong pace throughout Free Practice, but when it mattered most, the team fell just short — and Charles Leclerc once again found himself frustrated at his home Grand Prix.

Leclerc Endures Painful Monaco Qualifying as Ferrari’s Pace Slips at the Crucial Moment

While Lewis Hamilton salvaged third place with what he described as an all‑out effort, Leclerc could only manage fourth, brushing the barriers on his final Q3 lap and missing the chance to challenge Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen for pole. But the Monegasque made clear that the mistake was only part of a much larger, more complicated weekend.

Leclerc didn’t hide his disappointment after qualifying, explaining that the issues began long before his final‑lap brush with the wall.

“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.”

He admitted that arriving in qualifying without full confidence at Monaco is a recipe for trouble: “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. Nevertheless, I will give it my all.”

Leclerc went even further when speaking to media afterward, describing the last two race weekends as some of the most difficult he has faced in recent years.

“I’m very disappointed. It’s been an incredibly tough weekend. It’s been an incredibly tough two last weekends, with quite a lot of issues on my side.”

Despite the struggles, he expressed confidence that Ferrari are closing in on a fix: “I’m pretty confident that we’ll have a solution for the next race, but so far it’s been very, very tricky.

"The fact that on braking I just don’t really know where to brake still... but I wouldn’t put the mistake only on that, it’s for sure a combination of things. Sometimes it’s only me; I think today it’s a bit more than only me.”

Leclerc also revealed that the problems extended beyond the car’s behaviour on track.

“Just as a team, and on my side of the garage, it’s been a very messy weekend. We’ve had quite a lot of issues, we’ve had a lot of issues in Q3 as well. Probably nothing that people realise, but to go out of the box much earlier. There was a bit of a mess in the garage.”