Charles Leclerc admits: "I must up my game" after Barcelona retirement

Charles Leclerc has delivered a blunt self-assessment after a difficult Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix ended with a late retirement and another painful contrast against Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc had been running sixth after an attacking recovery race, but his afternoon unravelled in the closing stages when a technical problem forced him out. The result completed a frustrating weekend that had already been compromised by a Q3 crash, leaving him only 10th on the grid while Hamilton went on to control the race and win by nearly 20 seconds.

Late failure ends Leclerc’s Barcelona fight

Leclerc explained that the retirement came after a sudden failure in the car, with the issue striking at a critical point on track.

“I had a BBW fail, and I had no power steering anymore, so Turn 2, I was in the corner and suddenly there was no power steering. Then that was the end of my race,” Leclerc said.

The failure ended what had already been a demanding Grand Prix for the Monegasque. Starting from 10th after his qualifying error, Leclerc had to work through the race rather than fight from the front, and the late problem removed any chance of salvaging the finish he had been chasing.

His Barcelona weekend followed a pattern of recent disruption, with Leclerc acknowledging that the last four events had not been clean from a technical standpoint. Ferrari’s broader weekend had already carried tension after qualifying, when Leclerc’s Q3 crash was a major part of the team’s mixed Saturday, as detailed in our report on Ferrari’s Barcelona qualifying breakthrough.

Leclerc refuses to share credit for Hamilton win

Leclerc was equally direct when discussing Hamilton’s victory, making clear he felt the win belonged entirely to his teammate and Ferrari’s execution.

“I don’t want to take any credit for today’s race. I don’t think I had a role in it at all. I think Lewis and the team has done the job and eventually got the win all by themselves,” he said.

He added that resisting Hamilton would have made little sense given the pace difference.

“Surely, I could have stayed ahead of Lewis for two or three corners, but that would have been very stupid from me anyway. And Lewis won with an incredible margin, 20 seconds. He’s been incredible in the last three weekends, he’s been really on it, and he deserves all of it.”

Focus turns to response

For Leclerc, the message after Barcelona was not deflection but responsibility. He admitted the standard has to rise on his side of the garage.

“Now it’s up to me to up my game, to find this confidence with this car to put everything together,” he said.

Leclerc stressed the need for clean weekends, rhythm and consistency after a sequence of setbacks. Austria now stands as the next chance for him to respond, and after Barcelona, the pressure is clear: Hamilton has momentum, while Leclerc is searching for the confidence and execution required to fight at the front again.