Charles Leclerc involved in brutal head on crash at Barcelona GP as medical car deployed

Charles Leclerc has crashed for the second time in one week during a brutal head on collision at the Barcelona GP qualifying.

On Sunday afternoon, the lights will go out at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the F1 grid compete in the seventh race of the 2026 season.

Given his dominant performances throughout the first part of the season, Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli is the favourite in Barcelona, with the race expected to be one of the most dramatic of the year so far.

However, Antonelli is far from the only driver that is expected to perform well this weekend as teammate George Russell is also among the favourites alongside both McLaren and Ferrari drivers.

But, just minuted into the final qualifying session in Barcelona, Ferrari's Leclerc suffered a brutal head-on crash that has all but ended any hopes of winning the race on Sunday.

The incident took place in Turn 3, after the Ferrari driver lost control over his car, and crashed straight into the barrier.

Immediately after the crash the red flag was waved, calling all cars back to the pit while a medical car was deployed given the severity of the crash.

The FIA Medical Car is deployed when a driver is involved in a crash that registers an impact of 15 Gs or greater horizontally or 25 Gs or greater vertically, or when Race Control determines a driver needs immediate on-site medical evaluation.

Thankfully, Leclerc seemed to be completely unaffected by the crash and was quickly able to get out of his car and walk off the track.

Ahead of the crash, the Monegasque driver had been enjoying a strong qualifying session and looked likely to challenge for pole position despite it being widely considered that the Ferrari car is much slower than both Mercedes and McLaren.

But heading into the wall means he will start Sunday's race tenth on the grid, while teammate Hamilton secured an impressive P2 finish behind Russell, with Antonelli coming in behind in P3.

READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli discovers verdict after investigation for 'erratic driving' at Barcelona Grand Prix

Leclerc's crash comes just six days after he slid into the barriers while running third in his home race in Monaco last week.

"I'm not even going to take the blame," he said on the team radio before later confirming that the crash was due to a technical issue that meant he was unable to stop the car.

"Out of the four brakes, I had three brakes not working," Leclerc said.

"So in a Formula 1 car, it's never a good thing.

"The front left was working well, the front right was half working, and the two rear brakes were not working at all. And when I say at all, it's that on data, there's no deceleration at all. It's like the calipers were not even in the car."