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Charles Leclerc has revealed his fury with himself after a late mistake during qualifying at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps scuppered his chances of securing a better grid slot for the Belgian Grand Prix.
As Leclerc approached the final corner during the final stages of Q3, a trackside marshal was seen waving a yellow flag as Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar crept back into the pit lane after successfully giving Max Verstappen a tow.
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Unbeknownst to the Monegasque racing driver, the yellow flag was only in play in the pit lane, but the Ferrari ace had already sufficiently lifted his foot off the throttle to ensure that race control wouldn’t slap him with a penalty afterwards.
Charles Leclerc rues ‘disappointing’ yellow flag mistake that cost him at the Belgian Grand Prix
Speaking via Canal+ in the media pen after qualifying, Leclerc detailed his frustration at wrongly being caught out by the yellow flag: “It’s a bit disappointing; I was quite annoyed at the end of my lap because there was a yellow flag in the final corner.
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“The marshal was more or less in the middle of the pit lane. I thought it was a yellow flag for the final corner, so I eased off. I don’t think we would have finished second, but I reckon fourth place – moving up one position – would have been possible.”
Then asked about whether he can find the pace to challenge Mercedes during tomorrow’s Grand Prix, Leclerc jokingly replied, “Yes, if we have a Mercedes engine,” before adding, “With the Ferrari engine, it might be a little more complicated.
“Straight lines are not really what we like. But, well, we will maximise what we have.”
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Karun Chandhok calls for FIA to review the position of the marshal’s post at Spa-Francorchamps
During Karun Chandhok’s analysis of Leclerc’s error in qualifying, he noted how the Ferrari driver fell foul of a bit of bad luck, due to the position of where the marshal was standing while waving the yellow flag.
“I actually really sympathise with him having seen this,” he said via Sky Sports F1’s live coverage (18/07 15:36). “Unfortunately, the location of that marshal’s post is in Charles’ eye line. It’s directly where he’s looking, and therefore, he said he backed out of it.
“He probably gave up a tenth, which would have been a position in front and ahead of George Russell, a net third on the grid. So, I actually can sympathise.”
Chandhok then highlighted how the FIA must now reconsider the position of the marshal’s post at that section of the circuit, adding, “I appreciate the frustrations from him, and it’s something that the FIA and the drivers will have to talk about, think about for next year.
“I think that marshal’s post probably needs to move away from the line of sight.”
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