The Ferrari driver had looked in contention for a front-row start, and potentially pole position, before his Q3 ended in the wall at Turn 4.
Leclerc will start 10th after failing to set a time in the final part of qualifying, while teammate Lewis Hamilton continued his strong form by qualifying on the front row for the first time since joining Ferrari.
The crash came just a week after Leclerc also crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix, adding to a bruising run for the Monegasque driver.
Leclerc’s crash came on his first push lap in Q3, with the Ferrari driver appearing to run onto the dirty side of the track at Turn 4 before losing the rear and hitting the wall.
He was able to climb from the car unscathed, but the incident brought out the red flag and left him at the bottom of the Q3 order.
Speaking after the session, Leclerc offered no excuses for the mistake.
Secure your spot today.
“I’m okay. Thank you. I just feel very much ashamed to be here after a crash like that,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.
“What did I do? I released the brakes earlier. I tried to carry speed. I think on the previous lap, I think we were close. Being the fastest car every corner, apart from Turn 4.
“I knew it was a weakness. I knew I had to make everything perfect for that lap. And I tried. I obviously regret it. And again I feel very much ashamed.”
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Leclerc has endured a wretched run of late, having described his weekend in Canada as his “worst ever” before crashing out in Monaco last week.
While he admitted he had been struggling with the car in recent rounds, he said there was nothing similar to hide behind in Barcelona.
“I mean the last two races, Canada and Monaco, I was in a very tricky configuration to deal with. And that didn’t make it easy,” he said.
“And Monaco ended the way it ended. And that was already very difficult to take and accept. Knowing that I could do little with it.
“But this weekend there was none of that. The car was great. The feeling with the car was amazing. And I didn’t deliver.
“And if anything, it’s a lot worse than that. I put it into the wall. So there’s no excuses. I just feel ashamed.”
Leclerc had also been working with a different brake configuration after recent struggles, but dismissed any suggestion that it had played a role in the crash.
The 28-year-old said the mistake was harder to accept given Ferrari’s pace across the weekend, particularly with Hamilton able to put the second SF-26 on the front row.
Hamilton will start alongside Russell, while Leclerc faces a recovery drive from 10th on a circuit where overtaking is expected to be complicated but tyre degradation could open strategic opportunities.
Leclerc said the only comfort he could take from qualifying was that his feeling inside the car had returned, leaving him hopeful of salvaging something from the race.
“It’s part of our job to be able to come after a session and speak in front of the camera,” Leclerc said.
“But when these things happen, and especially after the last few weekends that have been particularly tough to find performance in general, I just feel ashamed.
“The only positive I can take is that the feeling that I have in the car is back. And for tomorrow I feel optimistic that we can have a good race.
“But I need to show that, and yeah, I just need to do the perfect race. Will be the least to a bit of a forgiving about the mistake about today.
“But, yeah, it’s a shame.”
George Russell claimed pole for Mercedes with a 1m14.679s, edging Hamilton by just 0.064s, while Kimi Antonelli finished third.
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