Leclerc doesn’t – Charles Leclerc says he “doesn’t really know where to brake” at Monaco after a difficult weekend with repeated Ferrari brake problems, ending with a Q3 crash on his final lap and fourth place in qualifying. Despite topping FP1 and running second fastest in FP2
Charles Leclerc knew something was off long before the crash.
At Circuit de Monaco. he later admitted he “don’t really know where to brake” as his Ferrari struggled all weekend with issues behind the wheel. After qualifying ended with him winding up fourth following a crash on his final lap in Q3. the emotion in his voice carried the weight of a home event that never quite steadied.
On paper, Leclerc’s Monaco had started well. He topped FP1 and finished second fastest in FP2 on Friday. But even then. he pointed to troubles with his brakes when speaking to the media afterwards. adding that he’d struggled in the same area in Canada. That warning didn’t fade as the weekend moved on. In FP3 on Saturday, his work was again hampered by what he called a “horrendous” feeling under braking. Qualifying followed the same pattern—then Q3 closed with the moment he struck the barriers at Tabac corner.
Before improvements from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and team mate Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc had taken provisional pole. His bid to lift the performance again was cut short when he thumped the barriers at Tabac corner.
When he spoke to the media after the session, Leclerc sighed as he laid out how hard the weekend had been. “I’m very disappointed. It’s been an incredibly tough weekend. It’s been an incredibly tough two last weekends, with quite a lot of issues on my side.”
He said he felt confident a solution could arrive for the next race, but only after admitting how long it had taken to find any stability. “I’m pretty confident that we’ll have a solution for the next race, but so far it’s been very, very tricky.”
The hardest part to shake, he said, was still the braking. “The fact that on braking I just don’t really know where to brake still…” he began. before stressing that it wasn’t simply one cause. “…but I wouldn’t put the mistake only on that, it’s for sure a combination of things. Sometimes it’s only me; I think today it’s a bit more than only me.”.
Leclerc also described the week from inside the garage as messy—something that made everything feel harder to coordinate when the car wasn’t cooperating. “Just as a team, and on my side of the garage, it’s been a very messy weekend. We’ve had quite a lot of issues, we’ve had a lot of issues in Q3 as well. Probably nothing that people realise. but to go out of the box much earlier… there was a bit of a mess in the garage.”.
Even with all of that, he explained that he was able to recover briefly once the laps were there. “But then luckily we kind of got back onto the track, and I knew I had two laps. I tried everything on the second lap, and it’s life. I didn’t finish the lap, and that’s it.”
Asked whether his pace was still competitive. and whether a potential brake fix gives him hope for what comes next. Leclerc responded with the honesty of someone who knows speed alone won’t solve this track without the right feel. “Yeah, but being quick is not… it’s always the way you are being quick.”.
He said Monaco punishes uncertainty immediately—especially when confidence doesn’t arrive with the car. “The fact that the whole weekend I really felt like I was… I can feel when things click around this track. and where I’m confident. I knew it would be extremely difficult to make anything work today, so the confidence was not there. I went into Qualifying trying to be confident, but I wasn’t.”.
He pointed to the price of those issues on a circuit like this. linking Monaco directly to his earlier warning from Montreal. “With all those issues, on a track like this, on a track like Montreal, you are paying the price. I just hope we can have a normal weekend and get back the feeling that I had before with this car.”.
Charles Leclerc Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco Ferrari brakes Q3 crash Tabac corner Kimi Antonelli Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton qualifying
Monaco always chaos tho.
So he “doesn’t know where to brake”?? That sounds like the car was just unsafe all weekend. Ferrari really can’t catch a break I guess.
Maybe it’s just Monaco layout. Like Tabac corner is cursed or whatever. But also if he had brake issues in Canada too then yeah it’s the setup. Still kinda wild he topped FP1 and then everything went sideways.
I saw “Q3 crash” and immediately thought Verstappen did something lol. Like drivers blame braking but could be tire temp or something? And why does it say Mercedes improvements like that helps? Not following. Either way that’s gotta be embarrassing in front of Monaco home fans or whatever.