Ferrari rue Leclerc 2021 bad luck

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has claimed Charles Leclerc was cost "at least 40 points" through bad luck last season.

Leclerc trailed team-mate Carlos Sainz in the drivers' standings by five-and-a-half points in 2021.

But such was the closeness of the battle at the top end of the midfield, Lando Norris was able to squeeze between the pair to relegate Leclerc to seventh.

Speaking in an end of season media briefing including GPFans, Binotto said: "We should not forget that in any season there are at least a couple of examples, which are Monaco and Budapest where he didn't score.

"But I think he has been unlucky as a driver on those occasions.

"Without that, and it's difficult to say where he would have finished at the end of the race, but maybe at least 40 points missing on his classification.

"Without that, again, I think he would have been a lot further ahead in the championship That's why, again, I can only judge very positively this season.

"He has learned how to manage the tyres, how to manage the race situations, and the race pace, so quite pleased on the progress he made."

Of the two examples provided by Binotto, in Hungary, Leclerc was an unfortunate bystander in the turn one chaos triggered by Valtteri Bottas.

In Monaco, however, Leclerc was unable to take the start of the race due to damage sustained in a crash after securing pole in qualifying.

Binotto added: "For Charles' overall performance in the season, at first, I have to say that I'm very happy to see the progress he's made this season.

"I think he's always been very fast in quali. Even at the last part of the season where maybe Carlos was challenging a bit more, he has always been very fast."

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