Charles Leclerc said he was made to “look like an idiot” after crashing out at his home grand prix in Monaco.
After Lance Stroll hit the wall at the final corner on lap 60, bringing out the safety car, 28-year-old Leclerc collided with the wall during the restart at the same turn in near-identical fashion eight laps later.
Replays showed that both drivers had run over a piece of broken-up asphalt just before the final corner, although both put their crashes down to braking issues.
Leclerc was running third for Ferrari before the crash and was audibly frustrated over the radio after hitting the wall, saying he would not accept any blame for the incident. Leclerc told Sky Sports:
💬 “It doesn’t help to have asphalt coming off but data speaks for itself. I’ve always been very honest no matter how many mistakes I do … but I’m not going to take any of it today.
“With cold tire temperatures, the inconsistency and tires being more sensitive because you are on the limit, have just been an absolute nightmare. I look like an idiot, and when you look like an idiot for a mistake of yours, it’s fine, but it’s borderline dangerous.”
This was the fourth time Leclerc has failed to finish at his home race, while his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton made it back-to-back second place finishes and moved into second in the drivers’ championship.