Charles Leclerc missed out on victory in Le Castellet with a driving error. This puts Ferrari under increasing pressure in the Formula 1 title fight. The victorious world champion Max Verstappen, on the other hand, takes a big step towards defending his title.
Fatal error: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc lands in the tire stacks on lap 18.
The start of the second half of the Formula 1 season could hardly have been worse for Ferrari. At what was perhaps the last French Grand Prix for the time being, challenger Charles Leclerc slipped into the tire wall on lap 18 of 53. Defending champion Max Verstappen then drove unchallenged towards his seventh win of the season, which puts him 63 points ahead in the World Championship standings. Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in his 300th Grand Prix for the first time this season, praised the reliability of Mercedes. This was also confirmed by Hamilton’s teammate George Russell’s third place.
The Scuderia has too many technical failures
The same story repeated itself at Le Castellet this season: whenever Ferrari has the most powerful car and could feel safe, something goes wrong. In total, the Scuderia has already had six technical failures, the red racing cars have completed the fewest laps of all teams.
Most recently, in Austria, the unit was in the car of Carlos Sainz jr. burst into flames, which is why the Spaniard had to start from the back at Le Castellet after an engine change. He worked his way back up to third place, but a mistake at the first pit stop cost him a five-second penalty. After that he had to make a second stop against his will, in the end Sainz jr. Fifth.
Far more serious, however, is Leclerc’s mishap, which experts could hardly explain. In the middle of the fast turn eleven and completely unchallenged, the Monegasque lost control of his car, slid out, spun and then slammed into the tire barriers. The driver gasped when he was supposed to answer his engineer if something had happened to him. He just shouted the word “gas pedal” and then a primal cry of disappointment rang out. Leclerc seemed to suspect that he might have just gambled away quite a bit.
Only: who is to blame for this embarrassing mistake? Was the tire tactic poorly chosen, did the driver stay on the road too long after the first blisters had formed? Or was Leclerc himself to blame for simply overdoing it when trying to distance Verstappen? Or was it due to the technology again, as was the case with Leclerc’s success in Spielberg, when the accelerator pedal got stuck just before the end of the race?
In any case, Leclerc took the blame: “I show the best performance in my career, so such mistakes are bad.” He spoke of the car’s difficult balance, which he had to get under control, but at the same time he put himself in front of his team. “I made a mistake at the wrong moment. That’s unacceptable,” Lerclerc said. In Imola he had already said goodbye to the race in a similar way, giving away 32 points. Even if the F1-75 is currently the strongest car – Ferrari cannot afford such mistakes against Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.
After the renewed failure, the pressure on team boss Mattia Binotto continues to increase. The Lausanne-born manager always painted the situation in Maranello in bright colors in front of the cameras. No, Charles Leclerc is not devastated, you have to remember the positive aspects of the race. “A great car and fantastic drivers” he claims to have seen. These are statements that almost border on trivialization after the latest Ferrari debacle. Binotto is planning a double success for the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend, the last race before the summer break.
Ferrari lacks the balance so far
Such optimism can hardly distract from the rumors that technology might have played a part in Leclerc’s failure and from the great pressure on the team leadership. So far, Binotto has not been able to commit to a clear number one in the team, which has apparently led to trench warfare within Gestione Sportiva, which is feared for its intrigues. So far, Ferrari has not managed the turnaround that has been propagated, neither technically nor mentally, even if the upward trend compared to recent years is enormous.
But the lack of balance between old self-doubt and new self-confidence can be felt on many levels. Just recently, Mattia Binotto tried to take some pressure off his side by not naming the World Cup as a goal for this season – but competitiveness. That didn’t go over well in Italy. But maybe Binotto just showed a good sense of reality with his assessment.