Leclerc takes ‘full responsibility’ for botched Q3 qualifying plan

Charles Leclerc was left to reflect on what might have been after his strategic decision to run a single flying lap in Q3 backfired during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, relegating the Ferrari driver to a disappointing seventh on the grid.

The Monegasque opted to go against the grain during the top-10 shootout, choosing to run only once while most of his rivals completed two qualifying attempts on fresh soft tyres.

The result? Leclerc wound up 0.547s off pole-sitter Oscar Piastri and also behind Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, who secured fifth.

A Self-Inflicted Blow

Rather than pin the blame on strategy calls from the pit wall, Leclerc held his hands up and admitted the decision was entirely his own doing.

“I think that with two sets in Q3, it's always easier and I probably would have found time. How much? I don't know,” he said. “Also I think there were a bit more clouds, but I take full responsibility for the way the qualifying has gone.

“It was my choice and in Q3 it was my choice to go in the middle when the team was pushing me to go to the end.

“I still wanted to have a plan B in case that one lap wasn't going to plan, a mistake or whatsoever, the chance to have a second lap. So, that's on me.”

Leclerc revealed that his choice to run once was part of a bigger-picture strategy to save an extra set of soft tyres for the race on Sunday.

“I also did all these choices in order to have better tyres for tomorrow's race. If tomorrow we have a very bad race, then I will take the responsibility of a bad weekend.

“If it goes well, then I'm happy to take the credit of pushing the team one way, but only time will tell.”

• Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying results

Still, even with the compromised run plan, Leclerc had hoped for more.

“Obviously P7 is a little bit below our expectations,” he said. “Even with the choices I've made for qualifying, I expect it to be further up.

“But that's the way it is now. The choices are made and I hope that we will pay off.”

Encouragement Turns to Frustration

Leclerc had looked more optimistic after Friday’s running, having placed fifth in FP2 ahead of Mercedes’ rookie Kimi Antonelli. But he acknowledged that Ferrari took a backward step overnight.

“I was a bit more optimistic after FP1, FP2,” he said. “I thought that the car was behaving pretty well, but unfortunately in qualifying it went back to normal and that's a little bit what I was thinking of last night.”

With the Monegasque starting behind both McLarens, a Red Bull, both Mercedes cars and his own teammate, Sunday's race presents a challenge—but also a test of whether the tyre-saving gamble will pay off.

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