Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc humbly owned up to the mistake that cost him a likely spot at the front of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix grid.
Leclerc appeared to sustain in qualifying the superiority he’d shown since the weekend got underway in Baku.
However, half-way into Q2, the Monegasque got a bit ahead of himself, carrying too much speed into the treacherous and tight Turn 8 corner and slamming the barriers on the outside.
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Bottas beats Hamilton to Baku pole after Leclerc crashes
Leclerc needed no one to tell him it was a big blunder, immediately calling himself “stupid” on his team’s radio.
“I deserve what happened today,” told Sky’s Natalie Pinkham. “I am very sad for what happened, but I deserve it.
“I’ve been stupid as I said on the radio, I’ve calmed down but I still think I’ve been stupid, this doesn’t change.
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“I will push to learn from this and come back stronger, and hopefully have a very good race tomorrow.”
Leclerc felt that without the costly mishap, ^pole position was a big probability.
“I don’t want to say anything stupid but I think that after looking at FP1, FP2 and FP3, also Q1, pole was possible today and I throw all the potential in the bin.
“So I’m very disappointed and I’ll come back stronger from this.”
Asked whether his lock-up had been the result of a lack of concentration, Leclerc said:
“Not really, I just tried to put a little more brake. Well actually I don’t think I put more brakes, I just braked as I did on the softs but obviously I was on the medium and I locked up.
“Again, I don’t want it to be misunderstood, there’s no problem with the tyres, it’s just myself.”
Suggested that all was not lost on a track that offers overtaking opportunities, the 21-year-old vowed to give it his all on race day.
“You can definitely overtake and I’ll push for that tomorrow, but for now I’ll just be beating myself up!”
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