Former F1 driver launches extraordinary Leclerc RANT after qualifying crash

Charles Leclerc

Former F1 driver launches extraordinary Leclerc RANT after qualifying crash

The former F1 driver, now an analyst, commented, "I've never actually seen such a weird crash there"

Janice Kusters

Sunday 27 August 2023 09:57

Former F1 driver Guido van der Garde was not particularly impressed with Charles Leclerc's performance during qualifying.

The Dutchman was certainly straightforward in his commentary when Leclerc narrowly advanced from Q1 to Q2 at the Dutch Grand Prix. He emphasised on Dutch broadcaster Viaplay that Leclerc's luck in making it through, as the margins were incredibly small and the Monegasque made quite a few errors.

When his Dutch colleague and former racing driver Ho-Pin Tung elaborated on the significance of braking earlier in turn 1 and certain other corners due to the windy conditions, Van der Garde added a pointed comment with a wry smile, “Maybe tell Leclerc that.”

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Subsequently, Charles Leclerc's participation in Q3 came to an abrupt end as he crashed out, attributed to an error in navigating turn 10 in the changing weather conditions. On this incident, Tung remarked, "He crashed at a place where we saw a small river on the track 2-3 laps before.

"He steers in, has a very brief moment of oversteer, that little moment of oversteer - with that he comes just slightly off his line. After that, it's actually really weird, that he thinks he doesn't want to give up, and then it's a corner that keeps spinning, constantly spinning. It isn't actually as fast as you'd expect either, looking at the layout,” before concluding, “Yeah, well, a bit of a weird crash, I thought.”

Here van de Garde chimed in with a dig at Leclerc, “Very strange corner to crash actually! We've obviously driven thousands of laps here, I've never gone off there in my life. I've never actually seen such a weird crash there. But you were right, he steers in, a little bit of oversteer, and then he thinks; 'Well I should be able to get that, let's step on it' and then what happens... You go into the wall!”

Charles Leclerc's trials, team perspective, and the fateful corner

Reflecting on his qualifying performance, Leclerc's impressions were far from positive. During his interview with Viaplay, he openly admitted, “It was very difficult, it’s a track where traffic is very difficult to manage, as it’s a short track. However, in Q1, I think we could have [sorted] things better, so we need to look into it. After that in Q2 it was a bit more easy because we were at the right place on track, and then in Q3 what happened happened. So it’s a shame.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was understanding of Leclerc's struggles

Trouble seemed to be brewing at a specific corner for Leclerc throughout the weekend. He explained, “I mean, it’s uh, turn 9 and turn 10 - as much as it’s been a very difficult weekend for us, these two corners were, even more difficult than other corners, and then [at that moment] it was all about releasing the brakes and hope that the car is gripping again in the exit, which on that lap it didn’t.”

In contrast with Leclerc's self-criticism, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was more understanding of the Monegasque's struggles in qualifying. In his interview with Viaplay, he remarked: "We did pretty well until Q3, and then Charles crashed and it is like it is, he was doing a very good lap, and I can’t blame him for the situation.”

Vasseur attributed the incident to the challenging track conditions that caught Leclerc off guard, saying: “I think at this stage of the session you had one line dry, and the rest completely wet, and probably [while] pushing a bit more than the lap before, he went a bit wider probably too wide.”