Leclerc was supposed to finish second behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, but the Monegasque spun in Turn 6 (Ferradura) on the formation lap and continued to drive into the barriers.
This was preceded by a small cloud of smoke from the rear of his SF-23 before the rear axle appeared to lock and the car began to skid. From then on the driver was a passenger.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Leclerc assumed that an engine problem was the trigger for the spin, as he was also faced with a subsequent hydraulic defect that ripped the steering wheel out of his hands.
He explained: “When I lost the steering wheel I was mainly driving straight because I no longer had any hydraulics.
“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 an engine problem which caused the rear wheels to lock and then obviously I spun and hit the wall. There was nothing I could do.”
Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz suffered hydraulic failure during FP1 of the final race in Mexico City, but Leclerc said he had seen enough to suspect his problem was “totally different”.
After Sainz blamed the poor start on a clutch, Leclerc said: “I was happy with my car, we change the settings between the cars from weekend to weekend.”
“I think he was unhappy with what they did on their side of the garage, but I’m on my side, it was all good.”
Leclerc was initially able to drive out of the guardrail, but suffered damage to the front wing. He then parked on an emergency road to confirm his resignation.
The race in Sao Paulo was quickly stopped after a major incident at Turn 1 that wiped out Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon.
Williams racer Albon had moved to the outside of Nico Hülkenberg after the finish line, but the Haas damaged his rear tire and sent him spinning into Magnussen.
This caused a tire to tear off the rim, which in turn hit Daniel Ricciardo’s rear wing when Magnussen drove into the rear of Oscar Piastri.
Both Australians were able to restart the race from pitlane one lap down as the 25-minute stoppage for barrier repairs allowed the teams to complete repairs.