Charles Leclerc "paid the price" for 'greed' in Imola spin

Leclerc, Ferrari, Imola, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

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Leclerc "paid the price" for 'greed' in Imola spin

Leclerc finished sixth when a podium was on the cards

Ewan Gale

Sunday 24 April 2022 20:15

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Charles Leclerc believes the spin that cost him a podium at Ferrari's home race at Imola "shouldn't have happened" and was born of greed.

The championship leader was pushing hard to overtake Sergio Perez after a second pit stop in wet-dry conditions when taking too much kerb at the Variante Alta, rotating his F1-75 around and into the barriers.

Leclerc was able to continue but not without pitting for front wing repairs, dropping him from third to ninth before being able to fight back to sixth.

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"It is a big shame," Leclerc told Sky Sports F1. "Whatever happened before the spin, these are details and it is a part of racing.

"I believe the spin shouldn't have happened, P3 was the best I could do, we didn't have the pace for much more, I was greedy and I paid the price for it and I lost seven potential points compared to the third place I had before.

"It is a shame, it is seven points that are valuable at the end of the championship for sure and this shouldn't happen again."

Leclerc - "Impossible to know" if Red Bull step is permanent

With Max Verstappen taking his second win of the season in commanding fashion, Ferrari and Red Bull have now shared two victories apiece.

But with Red Bull securing a one-two without seriously being threatened for victory, after winning the sprint and taking pole in qualifying, Leclerc was asked if the margin was track specific or if Ferrari's rivals had taken a leap forward.

"It is impossible to know," he replied. "We will see, only time will tell how much of a step they did but for sure. They seem to be more competitive than the first three races, or similar to Jeddah, let's say.

"We had the upper hand in Bahrain and Australia, they had the upper hand here and in Jeddah.

"It is very close and I think it will be that way for the rest of the season and that is why every small mistake...

"Well, this was a big mistake but actually the consequence considering the mistake could have been much bigger.

"It was only seven points today but it could have been much more the next time so I need to be careful."