Charles Leclerc explains full reason behind his Barcelona GP late retirement

Charles Leclerc has detailed the full extent of the failure that ended his Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with only three laps remaining, revealing that his Ferrari lost far more than power steering before he returned to the pits.

A recovery drive cut short

Leclerc’s race had been built on immediate progress. By the end of the opening lap, he had climbed from 10th to seventh, underlining that his Ferrari had considerably more pace than its grid position suggested.

The episode followed a difficult qualifying day for Leclerc, with Ferrari already left balancing promise and frustration after Barcelona. For more on that backdrop, read our report on Leclerc feeling ashamed after his Barcelona qualifying crash.

Leclerc points to strategy and starting position

While the failure ended his race, Leclerc also accepted that Ferrari’s strategic path may not have been optimal. Unlike his team-mate, who went on to claim victory, Leclerc stayed on a two-stop strategy rather than switching to three stops.

Speaking to select media, including RacingNews365, Leclerc explained: “Yeah, I lost the power steering. Then, with the VSC, I don’t know if it would have changed our race significantly. Maybe P4 could have been on the cards.”

He added: “But the two-stop strategy was a bit of a mistake on my side. I think the three-stop was a bit better. It wouldn’t have changed my race massively.”

For Leclerc, however, the bigger damage had already been done before lights out. “The biggest problem was starting P10, and that was on me, and then, obviously, the technical problem at the end. We’ll look into what happened.”

More than power steering

The scale of the problem became clearer after the race. Leclerc confirmed he had also lost all gears and braking, making any attempt to continue unrealistic.

Asked whether he could have driven on without power steering, he responded bluntly: “Oh no, no. I had no gears, and I had no brakes as well, so it would have been tough.”

It was a harsh end to a race that had shown genuine pace, but Leclerc’s own assessment was clear: the retirement was technical, yet the lost opportunity began with qualifying.