A costly mistake for Charles Leclerc
“I tried to carry more speed into the corner because I knew it was our weak point,” Charles Leclerc explained when discussing the crash that ended his qualifying session in Barcelona.
The Ferrari driver added: “It worked, but then I got on the power while I was on the dirty side of the track and lost the rear.”
The result was a heavy accident that brought Charles Leclerc’s Q3 to a premature end, severely damaged his Ferrari SF-26 and left him facing a difficult recovery drive from tenth place on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix. On the other side of the garage, Lewis Hamilton secured second place and a front-row start.
Telemetry data appears to support Charles Leclerc’s explanation. The figures show that the Monegasque driver carried approximately 9 km/h more speed through that section of the circuit compared to his previous lap.
Lewis Hamilton suggests Charles Leclerc may have tried to replicate his approach
However, during the post-qualifying press conference, Lewis Hamilton offered another possible explanation for Charles Leclerc’s accident at the Repsol corner. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion suggested that his Ferrari teammate may have altered his approach after reviewing telemetry data from the other side of the garage.
Lewis Hamilton explained:
“We basically had exactly the same setup in qualifying and Charles was quick throughout the whole weekend. I think from the data he could see that I was braking very late into Turn 4, and I think that’s probably why Charles tried to carry a lot of speed into that corner. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work…” – the British driver pointed out.
While Lewis Hamilton’s comments remain only a theory, they offer an interesting insight into how closely matched the two Ferrari drivers were throughout the weekend and how small adjustments in search of the final few tenths can sometimes make the difference between a front-row start and a trip into the barriers.
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