Charles Leclerc is optimistic about the rest of the season despite his agonising retirement from the lead at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Leclerc dominated in Spain but his Ferrari F1-75 succumbed to a power unit failure on Lap 27 costing him a potential victory in his brutal title fight with Max Verstappen.

The Monegasque spoke very candidly urging his team to stop unreliability becoming a common occurrence throughout the campaign.

He said: “We cannot afford that too many times during the season but apart from that the team has been faultless since the beginning of this season.

The 24-year-old also discussed the positives that can be taken from the race weekend in Barcelona particularly pace and tyre management which was a huge factor in the outcome of the Grand Prix.

The baking hot Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya made managing the Pirelli rubber hugely difficult for the drivers with both Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr going off the track at Repsol.

Leclerc said after the race: “Looking back at the weekend I think there is plenty of positives, the pace in general and tyre management that was going to be a huge thing today and I think we are the ones that managed the tyres in the best way so I feel confident for the rest of the season.”

The majority of the drivers that finished the race undertook a three stop strategy while Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel all made two scheduled stops.

After Leclerc’s retirement Verstappen snatched the championship lead after six races heading into the Monaco Grand Prix but Leclerc is adamant that Ferrari will bounce back at his home race.

The Ferrari driver said: “Now we’ll just keep our heads down and come back stronger at the next race."

He has a terrible record in Monaco failing to finish in all three of his home Grand Prix starts alongside a double non score during his championship winning F2 campaign in 2017.

However Leclerc did take a memorable pole position at the Principality in 2021 showing blistering raw speed on the two-mile circuit.