Charles Leclerc conceded that he had to take satisfaction from qualifying third in Monaco amid weekend long struggles with Ferrari’s SF-23.
Leclerc scored pole position for his home event in both 2021 and 2022 and was a contender for top spot through the final stages of Q3.
Leclerc briefly held provisional pole position but was shuffled down to third in the closing stages as both Fernando Alonso and then Max Verstappen beat his benchmark.
“Disappointed with third but at the same time I think I need to look at the weekend as a whole,” said Leclerc.
“I’ve been struggling with the car like crazy, we’ve had a lot of problems with bottoming, especially up the hill at Turn 3 and Turn 13.
“In qualifying it was the same but with the new tyres you can extract a bit more and I managed to put everything I wanted in one lap.
“It wasn’t enough for the pole but I think that’s the maximum we could do today.”
Leclerc explained that he and Ferrari are struggling “on the bumps especially” and quipped “check my head [on the onboards], it’s crazy, it’s going left to right, especially turn 3 and turn 13, it’s very, very tricky.
“Last year it was much better, and much easier to see the road, so the car would absorb much more the bumps and it was much easier to be consistent, so yeah, that is the biggest difference.”
Leclerc remains under investigation after impending Lando Norris during Q3.
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-350x250.webp)
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-360x180.webp)
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