Charles Leclerc was left heartbroken as a minor mistake on his final push lap cost him a potential pole position for the F1 Canadian GP. The Ferrari driver had already started the race weekend on the back foot after his shunt in FP1 meant that he had to sit out for the entire day.

The driver first drove the Ferrari on Saturday in FP3, but to the surprise of many, it did appear that he had a decent pace in the car and a potential pole position was on the table.

The driver had a decent pace in Q3 as well, and it was on his last push lap that the driver was expected to give it one last shot. While the driver completely nailed the first sector and was 2 tenths up on George Russell, it was followed by a slight error that left his lap compromised.

Talking to Sky Sports afterward, Charles Leclerc was heartbroken as he felt a pole position was there for the taking and he messed up. Talking about the lap, he felt that Isack Hadjar’s RB was not impeding him, but the dirty air was what led to a mistake. He said,

“I’m very disappeared because I don’t think yesterday had any impact on my bad performance today. Q3 last lap I was putting everything together until Turn Six or Seven where I found myself with Isack [Hadjar] 100-150 metres in front, which is not impeding that’s for sure, but the dirty air on a track like with the walls so close you lose so much and I lost the rear.”

He added,

“I’m very disappointed. I believed in it today. I thought that there was the pace in the car to be on pole. I don’t know if the choice of the tyre eventually would have cost us pole, but it would have been close, so I’m very disappointed.”

Charles Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton starts the race ahead of him in P5

Charles Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton kept his nose clean, not making any mistakes, and hence would start the race in P5. Contrary to Leclerc’s assertion about the car, Hamilton felt that the best that was available on the table was P5, he said.

“We did the best we could with set-up. We have been working flat out all weekend trying to get it to go quicker but I just don’t think the car’s going to go that much faster. I definitely don’t think we can compete with the guys at the front and we just have to accept that that’s the way it is.”

It is now two consecutive races where Lewis Hamilton takes another one over Charles Leclerc in qualifying. Though neither has been on performance but circumstances, it would still be a boost for the veteran.