Charles Leclerc accepts full responsibility after costly qualifying crash: 'I feel very ashamed'

Charles Leclerc feels "very ashamed" following his crash in the final part of qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

After a poor run of form, the Ferrari driver looked well-positioned to fight for pole position, but an error on his first push lap of Q3 left his SF-26 in the wall and the eight-time grand prix winner consigned to tenth on the grid.

Having drifted wide at the exit of Turn 4, the Monegasque driver tried to power through a slide on the dusty outside of the track, but a sudden snap of oversteer saw him hit the barriers head-on, ending his session and bringing out the red flag.

Explaining what happened, the 28-year-old conceded there was not much to mitigate his mistake.

"I tried to release the brakes earlier, trying to carry more speed, as I knew it was the main weakness, if not the only weakness, because we're very fast in all corners," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.

"I tried to carry more speed in, worked out, but then I went on traction on the dirty side of the track, and lost the rear, but there was not much to excuse myself."

With Leclerc trying a new brake configuration after problems with the previous set-up plagued his weekends in Canada and Monaco, he dismissed any suggestion that opting towards Lewis Hamilton's approach was to blame.

"No, no, there's none of that," he responded when asked if his brake situation played a role in the crash. "And honestly, I adapted very well straight from FP2. I felt very at ease with it, and there's nothing of that. There's no excuses on trying to find a reference or whatsoever.

"I feel very ashamed after the last three weekends that have been particularly difficult for me, to find pace for the issues I had.

"Today and this weekend, I think everything felt really, really good, and in these days I need to deliver, and I didn't, so I feel very ashamed in general."

Despite expecting a strong recovery across the 66-lap race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Leclerc could not hide his disappointment.

"I think we can do great tomorrow, and I think we can come back," he added. "So, I'm optimistic for tomorrow, but for now, the disillusionment of qualifying is all I can think of."