Leclerc, at fault and frustrated by his result in Melbourne: "It could have been better without my mistake"

Ferrari is in a state of dismay after this absolutely epic Australian Grand Prix. The day after a laborious qualifying session, Team had the opportunity to make up for lost time in the race with changing weather conditions. Unfortunately, the Italian team was unable to take advantage of it, and Charles Leclerc neither. The Monegasque had started well, climbing from 7th place on the grid to 5th place at the end of the first lap.

However, things came to a head with a dozen laps to go when a brief but intense rain fell on Albert Park. In the final sector, Charles Leclerc was caught out by a wetter and more slippery track and spun, losing several positions in the process. Faced with rival teams switching to intermediates, Ferrari decided to take the risk of staying on track with slick tires, a choice that could have paid off with the Safety Car... but the conditions worsened, forcing the Scuderia to stop its drivers a lap later and thus, losing all the benefit of this bold gamble.

Charles Leclerc's very harsh words after his mistake at the end of the race 🥶⬇️#AustralianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rhifu5IiQO

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 16, 2025

Relegated to 10th place, Charles Leclerc battled in the final laps to make up for his mistake by taking the advantage over Lewis Hamilton et Pierre GaslyThe result: a meager 8th place and just four points, a disappointing result given the high expectations raised by the Scuderia this season. For the Monegasque, it was his mistake that cost him dearly in this Australian GP.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 8th in the Australian Grand Prix on Canal+ : "Quite honestly, it could have been better without my mistake coming out of Turn 11 (spin, Ed.). A lot of people made mistakes, but that's no excuse. I have to be better than the others, and I wasn't today. That's the first thing to point the finger at. Then we have to look at it; there were a few things we could have done better. It's always difficult to have the perfect strategy in these conditions and to anticipate when the cloud is coming onto the track. It started to rain really heavily coming out of the last corner, and I had already passed [the pit lane], so from that point on, it was too late. We shouldn't beat ourselves up too much about that, but I do blame myself for my mistake; it cost us four places, so it hurts."

"I tried to recover, the intention at the start wasn't necessarily to overtake Lewis [Hamilton]: he defended on the inside and was blocked by Pierre [Gasly] in front, so I released the brakes and I passed. With Pierre, it was a little more difficult but it's because he made a mistake because otherwise, it was very complicated to overtake because there was only one line and it was difficult as soon as you went off the line. We did the maximum from the moment I made my mistake, but well, we lost a few points."

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