Charles Leclerc took all the attention to himself when he spectacularly crashed after running P1 during the final qualifying session in Monaco. This brought out the red flags with less than half a minute to go, leaving no opportunity for his competitors to get a timed lap in and try to beat his time. And after this complete debacle, Leclerc revealed his mental state heading into the final session.

He had put his car in P1 during the afternoon practice session on Thursday. So, he knew that their pace was real and that he was under pressure to secure pole for Ferrari.

“It was very, very difficult to manage myself mentally after FP2. I could feel that it was very emotional in the car, but I told myself, ‘Now it is Q3 and it is time to put everything together.’ I managed to do so, and I am incredibly happy,” he said trackside after the session ended.

But, he is also in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after crashing his Ferrari into the wall. Although it would have been better to secure pole by seeing the chequered flag, at the end of the day, the Monegasque is happy to break to two-year-long drought for pole –

“It is a shame to finish on the wall, it does not feel the same. But, at the same time, incredibly happy about my first-timed lap. The first corner was quite tricky, I didn’t do a great first corner, but then second and third sector I nailed it. And so I am just very very happy to be on pole.”

Charles Leclerc admits worry about the five-place grid penalty

Another thing that the Monegasque now needs to vary of his gearbox. It was a heavy shunt and looked like it destroyed the rear of his car. Asked after the qualifying if he was worried about a potential grid-place penalty, he replied, “I am, but let’s see.”

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The Tifosi will be praying that he avoids it. On the other hand, Max Verstappen and Red Bull would love nothing more and see themselves promoted to the top of the grid.