Charles Leclerc risks missing Miami GP sprint after disastrous crash before race

is set to miss the sprint race after crashing into the outside wall on the reconnaissance laps. The Monegasque racer was a victim of the treacherous wet conditions in Florida. With the Miami International Autodrome circuit soaked in water, Leclerc aquaplaned into the outside wall, suffering massive damage to the right side of his SF-25 machine.

After hobbling into the final sector, he was forced to pull over and allow the marshals to recover his car. Following the contact, Leclerc dialled into the team radio to apologise to his engineers. "I'm so sorry," he said. "Yeah, I'm so sorry." This means that Lewis Hamilton will be the only Ferrari driver on the grid for Saturday's sprint race.

Leclerc's contact with the wall was understandable, given that Ferrari sent both drivers onto the soaked track with intermediate tyres on. Hamilton complained about this decision on the radio, stating: "I don't know how you put us out on inters!"

The Ferrari drivers weren't the only ones struggling in the conditions. Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who is set to start at the wrong end of the grid (albeit, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who has been resigned to a pit-lane start), went into the run-off area at the end of the back straight.

Leclerc will now hope that qualifying can offer him some respite. The Monegasque racer was downbeat after qualifying sixth for the sprint race as Ferrari's performance lagged behind rivals McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull.

"Bad," he replied when asked about the feeling in the car during Friday's sprint qualifying session. "The lap was good. But the pace is just not at all there for now, so it's a bit annoying, but it's the way it is for now.

"I'll try my best tomorrow to try to do something special with the start, but to be honest, there's not much room for improvement today. It was just... that's the pace of the car.

"It's every corner, really, so it's not like we are particularly weak in one type of corner. Yes, the slow speed seems to be a little bit more of our weakness, but it changes from one weekend to the other, so it's just not great."