LE CASTELLET, France — After leading the French Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the race after crashing out of the lead.
Leclerc was supposed to pit for new tyres when he raced wide and spun into the barriers at high-speed Turn 11.
Max Verstappen, who was leading Charles Leclerc by 38 points going into the race, took advantage of Leclerc’s error and took over the lead in the race.
“I’m at the top of my game, but if I continue to make mistakes, it’s worthless.” It’s understandable if we lose the championship by 32 points, but it’s still unacceptable,” Leclerc told Sky Sports in response.
“I go through the same motions over and over again in an attempt to decipher. That’s all there is to it: an error. As a result, I’ve lost control of my vehicle. The car’s balance has been a major issue for me during the course of the weekend.
“I messed up at the worst possible time.”
Leclerc was uninjured, but the experience and its repercussions had a profound effect on him. At first, he told his racing engineer “no,” but then exclaimed, “I can’t get off the throttle!” on the team radio.
At the Austrian Grand Prix, Leclerc had a problem with his throttle, which lingered open in the last laps of the race. However, it isn’t obvious if the trouble he encountered in France has anything to do with his victory in the race.
In the end, Leclerc was forced to retire for the third time this year, following power unit failures in Spain and Azerbaijan.