Vortex following France GP
Is Ferrari star Leclerc lying regarding the reason for the failure?
After Charles Leclerc’s crash, rumors arose regarding a defect in the Ferrari. But the truth is different.
At first, only Charles Leclerc (24) breathing heavily can be heard on the radio. Then the Ferrari star roars into the helmet microphone. Mega frustration in the cockpit at the Monegasque. Leclerc crashes as leader in the French GP. self-inflicted. “That was my mistake,” says the World Cup runner-up following the race.
But then the paddock was suddenly haunted by the fact that a technical problem with the Ferrari caused the crash once more, as in Spielberg.
Did Leclerc take it upon himself to protect his team? no The confusion surrounding the question of “defect or not” arose because Leclerc might no longer reverse away from the tire stack following the crash. “Something with the clutch didn’t work. It’s a shame because the car didn’t appear to be badly damaged!”
Confusion regarding accelerator function
But although the pole setter desperately put his foot down on the gas pedal, the Ferrari no longer moved from the spot. But precisely: This technical problem had nothing to do with the accident. Human error in the cockpit – Ferrari will have to wait for the first driver’s title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 in 2022.
The beneficiary of the Leclerc lapse is world champion Max Verstappen (24), who wins in Le Castellet and is heading for a comfortable title defense. So is everything great at Red Bull Racing? Not quite. The reason: Sergio Perez (32) missed the podium following the safety car phase.
Perez overslept the restart
Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko: “The only drop of bitterness today is Sergio Perez, who slept at the restart. A third place by Checo would have rounded off the great team performance.”
It is Mercedes driver George Russell (24) who duped the Mexican and, with second-placed teammate Lewis Hamilton (37), ensured the first Mercedes double podium of the year. Team boss Toto Wolff: «George did his thing very cleverly once morest Perez. And Lewis was very strong once more.”
Hamilton mightn’t drink
And how: The drinking system in Hamilton’s car didn’t work in the heat, but the seven-time champion still races to second place due to dehydration: “I’ve definitely lost three kilos!”
But the claim at Mercedes is of course victories. Wolff is now hoping for the opposite effect next weekend in Hungary: “We thought we might do really well in Le Castellet, but that wasn’t quite the case. Budapest is definitely not our best route. But maybe we’ll really hit it there!”
