The Monaco driver had two crashes at Turn 7 this weekend, the first when he lost his car in Friday’s second practice session before the rear end snapped and he hit the barrier in Q3.

The resulting red flag put Sergio Perez ahead of Fernando Alonso on pole, while Leclerc’s banker’s lap left him seventh and 2022 title rival Max Verstappen ninth. .

Leclerc explained on Saturday that he took a risk on the setup and while he still believes choosing the “difficult” setting is the best way to get the most out of his Ferrari SF-23, he may have gone too far with that direction.

He admitted he was hard on himself after his mistakes and expressed his disappointment at being out in qualifying.

“For sure, I’m very disappointed in myself,” he said. “Same mistake as in the same corner (on Friday). I also know that qualifying is my forte and obviously I took more risks.

“In the third quarter, nine times out of 10 it paid off. But obviously it was a weekend and I put it on the wall twice and it wasn’t the level I wanted.

“I obviously need to, especially on those weekends, manage differently in the third quarter. But that’s how it ends up.

“I think I also got myself in trouble because I wanted a very aggressive qualifying setup and I knew it was a setup that I needed to get the most out of the car. something to see.

“We know we have a weakness in tailwinds. Whenever we have a tailwind, we get more influence from other cars. But I want that car to be tricky because I know that’s what you need to drive this car way. Today, it’s too much.”

Ferrari then replaced the SF-23’s rear wing, gearbox, floor and rear suspension, although the new parts came from the distribution pool and therefore would not incur a penalty.

Leclerc’s driver coach Jock Clear suggested the split was due to driver error rather than rear-end instability induced by bumps or aerodynamics.

Collision-damaged Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-23 sent back to pits on back of truck

Photography: Steven Tee / motorsport pictures

He said: “In some ways it probably reflects his mentality when he’s up against a car that’s clearly faster than him, like a Red Bull.

“It’s a kind of: ‘I’ve got to make a change myself.’ Of course, physics will eventually get you out of the way.”

The team will not ask Azerbaijani sprinter and grand prix pole winner Leclerc to change his approach to qualifying.

Clear said: “We’re not going to say to him: ‘Look, calm down, Charles’. Over the course of a year, he’s qualified very well. That puts him in a very good position for a lot of races.

“Honestly, I think he’s smelling another pole opportunity, maybe just a little bit ahead.”

Further suggesting that the shunt was not triggered by the car’s inherent handling, Ferrari argued that Miami’s modified floorboards instead made the SF-23 more “benign.”

The front and center floor and diffuser geometry have been tweaked ahead of the rear wheels to control airflow to the diffuser. The effect has been described as “powerful”.

“It gives the driver a more consistent balance through mid-speed, high-speed, low-speed and of course braking and entering and then exiting,” Clear explained.

He added: “Maybe what happened yesterday with Charles actually showed that. He really worked hard on those high-speed corner 4-6 corners.”

Ferrari also believes “self-preservation” played a role in Leclerc’s crash, as he turned a frontal crash into a backwards spin into an obstacle, potentially incurring a penalty penalty for the component change.