Leclerc changed approach after ‘stupid’ Baku mistake

Charles Leclerc says he altered his approach following his “stupid” crash during qualifying for Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver ruined his chances of challenging for pole position in Baku in April when he slammed into the barriers during Q2, a mistake he lamented as “stupid” at the time.

Mistakes followed in Spain and Monaco - following a poor team strategy call during qualifying - which have prompted a change of approach from the Monegasque. 

“I think one approach that I probably have change after Baku was pushing too hard in Q2,” Leclerc said. 

“There has been a mistake in Baku because we definitely had an easy potential to go into Q3 with the car that we had. 

“To crash at that time was probably a bit stupid as I mentioned it many times. 

“Then in Barcelona, of course, we broke parts of the floor but that was not by pushing too hard, I just definitely did not expect it. 

“I let the car go and we broke a piece. This is something that I definitely changed after this. 

“There’s definitely been a few mistakes,” he added. “There’s a change of approach when you arrive in Ferrari compared to a year like last year when you can give it all from Q1 to Q3.

“But as we’ve seen in Baku may be it was not very important to give everything in Q2 because we definitely had the potential to do a lot better in Q3. 

“A few mistakes on my side and I’ve definitely learned from them. Now I’m looking forward trying not to reproduce them and hopefully there are better times to come.”

His and Ferrari’s mistakes have proved costly in Mercedes opening up a 118-point advantage in the constructors’ championship. 

Asked if he feels this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix is a must-win for the team, Leclerc replied: “I don’t see it that way. 

“Then of course, we have already done one third of the season, or will do at the end of this race. 

“So it is important that we come back but yeah in the end we just need to do the best job we can. 

“There’s no need to put ourselves at more pressure, we just need to push harder than ever to try and maximise what we have and to understand where we can improve.

“It’s definitely a high-speed track a lot more than it is in Monaco so our top speed normally is something positive for us, so hopefully we can take advantage from it and have a very good result here.”