Charles Leclerc’s difficult start to the season continued this Sunday in Australia with a second retirement in three Grands Prix. Something to knock him down a bit.
He had already had to stop far too early on the Bahrain track during the first Grand Prix of the season, he was again forced to retire this Sunday on the Melbourne side. No mechanical incident this time, but a collision with Lance Stroll on the first corner. A start to the season that looks like a disaster for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver did not hide his disappointment when answering questions from Canal+.
The Monegasque, who was already particularly furious on Saturday after a badly negotiated Q3 following instructions from its engineers, has once again made a disillusioned assessment. While the journalist who interviewed him drew a parallel with Max Verstappen’s bad start to the season last year with two retirements in three races (but one success in between), before he raced towards the title, Charles Leclerc replied: Sure, but it shouldn’t happen too often. We did not have a (good) start to the season. It was just a disaster. When we were third in Bahrain, (we had a mechanical glitch)the penalty in Jeddah and (here we give up). »
💬 “It was a disaster. »
After his retirement at the start of the race, Leclerc takes stock of his start to the season… 😮💨#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/NVpvjJcVhw
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 2, 2023
Turn the page
Dejected, Charles Leclerc thus concluded: “ It’s really not the start of the season that I was hoping for. The next race is scheduled for the end of the month in Azerbaijan. On April 30 on the Baku track, the Ferrari driver will finally try to turn the page on a disastrous start to the season. By his own admission.