Leclerc cites "combination of things" for a disappointing qualifying in Monaco

Leclerc on-track in Monaco | Credit: Formula One

Arriving into the weekend as the favourites, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faced yet another disappointing session for his home Grand Prix after being able to do no better than fourth. Despite briefly having provisional pole position, and setting the pace in practice on Friday, Leclerc cited a “combination of things” which saw him forced to settle for the second-row.

Leclerc, who took his first and till date only home race win in 2024, had previously never been out-qualified by a teammate at home when making it into Q3 until this year. Whilst both Ferrari cars will line up on the second row of the grid in third and fourth respectively, it will be seven-time former world champion Lewis Hamilton as the lead Ferrari on this occasion. 

The Monegasque driver, who currently sits third in the World Drivers’ Championship standings, highlighted that, amongst other things, “the consistency of the car” was a major issue he was contending with. The sudden change in performance despite little changes being made to the car was something also brought up by Leclerc’s teammate Hamilton. 

On his final push lap during qualifying, Leclerc touched the barrier which ultimately cost him time and potentially also damaged his car. Discussing the incident, he confirmed that “I overdid it” which caused the contact. 

Off the back of the Canadian Grand Prix which he recognised as “the most difficult weekend of my career”, Leclerc reiterated that he felt that Saturday’s disappointing result was the “result of the last two weeks being particularly messy”. Although not terrible on paper with the respectable haul of points that Leclerc has collected in Miami and Montreal respectively, his driving experience tells a different story.

The new regulations introduced at the start of the 2026 season has had all 11 teams constantly learning more about their cars and while some, like Mercedes, have flourished in this era, this has not been the case for everyone. Speaking about his level of comfort in this new generation of car, Leclerc highlighted that “the feeling inside the car is so important”. 

While there has certainly been cause for optimism over Friday and Saturday in the Principality with Leclerc setting the pace during FP1 and the reveal that the team “have the solution” to some of his car issues, Leclerc maintained that “the whole weekend has been a challenge”.

Monaco may not have the best reputation for on-track action however the race start is always one to watch out for and with one of Ferrari’s strengths in 2026 being their race starts, it could still be all to play for from the second row for Leclerc.