Leclerc takes blame after qualifying ‘slipped away’ in Canada

Charles Leclerc felt qualifying “slipped away” from him in Canada on Saturday as he failed to get in the fight for pole position with Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, finishing a distant third in the final Q3 shootout.

Leclerc entered qualifying chasing his second F1 pole after impressing in practice on Friday, but finished over six-tenths of a second off the pace as Vettel swept to his maiden pole of the season.

It left Leclerc in third place, having also lost out to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in Q3, with the Ferrari driver explaining his struggles after the session.

“I struggled with the car, the setup maybe. I felt quite good with Q1, but then I didn't really follow the track more as the track was getting better,” Leclerc said in parc ferme after qualifying ended.

“So I need to work on that on the setup and try to find the right setup for the final Q3 time. I struggled with that in Q3.

“Congratulations to Seb, he completely deserves it. Hopefully we'll have a better race on my side tomorrow.”

Elaborating in the post-qualifying press conference, Leclerc said that he felt his pace slipping away across all three stages of qualifying.

“This is a point I need to work on, to try and set up the car especially for Q3,” Leclerc explained.

“In Q1, the car felt quite good; Q2 a bit worse; Q3 it slipped away and I also did some mistakes. I need to understand from where it comes from to just try to anticipate the track evolution and how the car at its best in Q3.

“It’s my fault, and I need to work on that to make it better.”