MIAMI — Charles Leclerc took full blame for the late Miami Grand Prix mistake that saw him “put a very strong race in the bin” and drop from third to sixth on the final lap.
The Ferrari driver and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri were fighting for a spot on the podium at the start of the final lap Sunday.
Piastri had gotten past him on the penultimate lap, but Leclerc had one final attempt to get by with his battery boost.
But Leclerc spun while fighting for the position and tapped the wall with his left front tire.
The slow-moving Leclerc then lost fourth position to George Russell at the penultimate corner — where the two also made contact — before Max Verstappen caught him in a drag race for fifth position as they approached the start-finish line.
“It’s all on me,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1. “I don’t have much to add other than that. Very disappointed with my mistake. It shouldn’t happen.
“I pushed very hard in the second-to-last lap. I thought I was a good idea to let Oscar go for me to get the overtake [boost mode]. I knew it was going to be very difficult to get in front otherwise.
“It was a very poor decision, and in the space of four corners I put a very strong race in the bin,” he said. “I am very frustrated about that. Not much more to say.”
Leclerc finished the race as the subject of two ongoing investigations — one for skipping corners on the racetrack on the final lap, and another for his car being released in an unsafe condition.
As has been the case a few times this season, the lightning-quick Ferrari starts had put Leclerc in the lead of the race early.
However, he faded after the first pit stops, with Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris pulling comfortably clear of the chasing pack.
Leclerc had voiced frustration with Ferrari’s strategy after stopping for fresh tires on Lap 22.
“Next time you make a decision, please speak to me as well; I am here,” Leclerc said on the radio afterward.
Leclerc denied the suggestion the strategy call had been weighing on his mind by the time he had his messy finish.
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“I was very calm actually. I wanted to get the overtake from Oscar in that last lap, hence why I didn’t make his life too difficult before the last corner for him to overtake me, so I was relatively calm in the car then. Of course, I pushed like an animal in Turn 3, and most of the time this year it went through. I’ve had quite a few battles this year. This time it didn’t [work], and I’m disappointed in myself.”
Leclerc refused to blame the strategy for how his race unfolded.
“I think that without the mistake, I could have done a podium,” he said. “More than strategy, it’s easy to blame on the strategy afterward; even with the best strategy with that mistake on the last lap, I probably wouldn’t have been on the podium. First, I’ll look at myself, and then surely I’ll speak with the team to try and improve whatever we haven’t optimized today.”
