Rosberg slates Leclerc for Imola crash
Rosberg slates Leclerc for Imola crash
Nico Rosberg was left flabbergasted by championship leader Charles Leclerc’s simple mistake after a spin late in the race cost him vital points at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Leclerc was closing on the Red Bull of Sergio Perez when he slipped up at the Variante Alta and collided with the barriers, being fortunate to drive back out and recover to finish sixth.
But speaking on Sky Sports F1 former champion Rosberg warned: “Charles Leclerc, oh my God, if you are fighting for a championship against Max Verstappen you just cannot allow yourself to spin out there when you are just driving out there on your own.
“Yes, he was hunting down Perez but the pressure was on Perez, not on Charles, so to spin like that, my goodness, he has to avoid that for the rest of the season if he wants to win the championship. That was a really tough one.
“There was a clue from Perez in the post-race talk, he said it was a little bit damp in the braking zone, so it might be a bit of an excuse for Charles because it happened in braking.
“He just went in way too fast, he tried to save the situation by cutting more over the inside corner but that then threw him off and put him into the wall. He was still pretty lucky to not to have more damage than that.”
Rosberg - Ferrari made mistake by pitting
Rosberg believes that Ferrari followed Leclerc’s mistake with another slip-up when the team chose to call him into the pits for a new front wing, rather than keeping him out to evaluate the minor damage for longer.
The stop dropped Leclerc down to eighth and while he recovered to finish sixth, and collect eight points, it potentially lost him at least four points and possibly more, which could prove crucial in the championship run-in.
Rosberg added: “Ferrari made a mistake. They should have left him out there for one more lap to see how that front wing was hanging on there because it looked fine structurally.
“It was just the right-hand side flap that was missing, so that would have been ok to still finish at least fourth in the race, so I think Ferrari did a small mistake there.”
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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