Leclerc will have to ‘risk crashing’ after shock Q1 exit

Charles Leclerc says he will have to take an “extreme approach” into Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix after his shock Q1 elimination in qualifying.

Final practice pacesetter Leclerc was knocked out in the first segment of qualifying after Ferrari opted against sending him out for a second run and others improved, including his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

It means Leclerc is set to start his home race from 16th on the grid and the 21-year-old admits he will have to “take a lot of risks” to salvage a decent result.

Asked what he can hope for in the race, Leclerc replied: “Hopefully rain, and then there will be a bit of lottery in there.

“If it's dry, it's going to be boring. I'll have to take a lot of risks I think, even risking to crash.

“In the end, that's the only thing we need to do now, is to try and be extreme in our overtaking because this is a track where it's basically impossible to overtake, so we will see.”

Leclerc said he has questioned Ferrari’s strategy in Q1 and has no idea why he was not sent out for a second timed-run, despite losing time when he missed the weighbridge and had to be pushed back.

“I asked whether they were sure [we didn’t need to go again] and they told me 'we think we are’,” he explained.

“I said 'shouldn't we go out again?' But yeah, there was no real answer. I think they thought we would go... I don't know. I didn't have any explanations yet in detail. Very difficult one to take.

“We had plenty of time [to go again], even when we went out of the box to go out again. The weighbridge was not the problem. We still had the fuel to go again and only change tyres. None of this was a problem. I need some explanations.”