Charles Leclerc reveals despair over “unacceptable mistake”

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

French Grand Prix

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Leclerc reveals despair over “unacceptable mistake”

Ferrari driver dropped out of the lead in French GP

Will Gray

Sunday 24 July 2022 16:37 Updated: 17:17

Charles Leclerc has shouldered the blame for his disastrous DNF at the French Grand Prix and conceded his recent errors are “unacceptable”.

Sunday was the third time Leclerc has retired from the lead of a race this season, with his exit at Paul Ricard allowing title rival Max Verstappen to claim victory for Red Bull and extend his world championship lead to 63-points.

Asked if it was a problem or a mistake, Leclerc said: “Mistake. I think I am performing at the highest level of my career but if I keep doing those mistakes then it is pointless to perform at a very high level.

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“I am losing too many points. I think seven in Imola, 25 here because honestly we probably were the strongest car on track today so if we lose the championship by 32 points at the end of the season I will know from where they are coming from.

“It’s unacceptable. I just need to get on top of those things.”

Leclerc – tough analysis to come

Leclerc explained he will go back through the data to see if there was any mechanical reason for the error, which saw the car snap at Turn 11 and the Monegasque driver hit the tyre barriers.

Leclerc added: “I go through the same process all the time, try to analyse The snap was a bit of a weird one, so look into the data and try to understand if there is nothing that I do not know yet but to me it is a mistake and that’s it.

“It’s just trying to push too much and I lost the rear. It has been a very difficult weekend for me I struggled with the balance of the car, oversteering car.

“When it is warm like this it is very difficult to be consistent and very difficult to put laps together. I did a mistake at the wrong moment.”