The Ferrari driver had qualified second to Max Verstappen, but was unable to take the start after an electronic command issue caused a power unit and hydraulic failure.
This pitched him into the barrier, and despite his best efforts to get the car going again, he was unable to do so.
"I went to the corner, I lost the power steering first, and then the engine cut off for safety reasons,” he explained. “And then the rear wheels locked up, and that made me spin.
“So I had no control over the car to any point. Hydraulics, that is what I felt.
“But at the end, I don't think that is the issue, speaking with the engineers. We know what that is, but I cannot go too much into details.”
Leclerc said he could have kept going as only his front wing was damaged in the accident if his electronics issue hadn't kept happening.
“I moved the car again, there was only the front wing that was damaged,” he went on. “But apart from that, nothing else.
”I started again, I got the hydraulics for 15 seconds. But then exactly the same thing happened. I lost the hydraulics, and then the engine cuts off.
Source: Autosport