Leclerc was scheduled to occupy second place on the starting grid behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, but the Monaco driver deviated from his path at Turn 6 (Feradura) on the formation lap and continued into the barriers.
This was preceded by a small puff of smoke from the back of his SF-23 before the rear axle appeared to lock up and send the car into a spin. From then on, the driver became a passenger.
Talking to Sky Sports F1Leclerc believes an engine problem caused the car to spin as he also experienced a subsequent hydraulic failure which resulted in the steering wheel being ripped from his hands.
He explained: “When I lost the steering wheel, I went straight because I no longer had a hydraulic system.
“I don’t think it’s a hydraulic problem. I mean I know what it is. I can’t go into too much detail.
“Then there was something in the engine that made me lock up the rear wheels and then obviously I spun and hit the wall. I couldn’t do anything.”
His Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz suffered a hydraulic failure during first practice at the previous Mexico City round, but Leclerc believes he has seen enough to suspect his problem is “completely different”.
After Sainz blamed the clutch for the poor escape, Leclerc said: “I was happy with my car, we change settings between cars from weekend to weekend.
“I think he wasn’t happy with what they did on their side of the garage but on my side it was all good.”
Leclerc initially managed to get out of the barrier but suffered damage to the front wing. He then stopped his car on the escape route to confirm his retirement.
The Sao Paulo race was quickly red-flagged after a big turn at Turn 1 eliminated Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon.
The Williams Albon rider moved to the outside of Nico Hulkenberg off the line but the Haas team cut his rear tire to force him into a spin at Magnussen.
This led to a tire tearing off the rim, which in turn led to a clone of Daniel Ricciardo’s rear wing, while Magnussen spun at the back of Oscar Piastri.
Both Australians were able to restart the race from pitlane, as a 25-minute stop to repair the barrier allowed the teams to complete repairs.
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