“I think it will pay off in the race for us” - ‘Aggressive’ Charles Leclerc unfazed by the qualifying crash

Charles Leclerc is confident that the aggressive set-up on his Ferrari car will pay off on Sunday, May 7, at the Miami Grand Prix.

With two minutes left in Q3, Leclerc went off the track at Turn 4 and into the barriers, which led to a red flag and the premature end to Saturday's qualifying session.

Leclerc and Ferrari decided to pick a set-up that'll see him be the best-of-the-rest on the grid, behind the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Miami pole sitter Sergio Perez.

The Monegasque has acknowledged that he was taking a risk with the set-up but remained confident it would pay off in the race. He said (via The Race):

“I am obviously taking quite a lot of risk. I’m very angry with myself. It comes from one side, I am taking a lot of risks in Q3 to try and do something special, because I know we are behind Red Bull at the moment.”

The 25-year-old added:

“But also I think what is taking the upper hand this weekend is that I have a very aggressive set-up. I think it will pay off in the race for us. In qualifying, it was just too much.”

Charles Leclerc, while disappointed, remained unworried about the events of Miami qualifying, and said:

“Considering where I’ve put it [the car in qualifying], for sure. I’m very disappointed in myself. I’m very hard on myself. But I also know my strong points and what it gives me on the other side, taking this much risk. It’s just very disappointing. I’m pretty sure I’ll recover and reset. On that, I’m not worried.”

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“We don’t have any miracle in hand” - Charles Leclerc on the gap between Red Bull and Ferrari

Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari do not have the pace to match Red Bull Racing in Miami.

Red Bull have won all four races this season, with Max Verstappen winning in Bahrain and Australia and Sergio Perez winning in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Ferrari, on the other hand, have been on the podium only once, when Leclerc finished P3 in Baku.

Charles Leclerc has stated that Ferrari will not be be able to get any closer to Red Bull in Miami. He told RacingNews365:

"In terms of race pace, I don't think we have any miracle in hand to close the gap. I don't think we will be much closer [to Red Bull]. The feeling is pretty good over one lap, but in the race, we are so far behind Red Bull, who are in a league of their own. In the race, we definitely have a lot of time to find, but in qualifying pace, we are more or less there."