F1: Charles Leclerc fires Ferrari for failure at Monaco Grand Prix
Leclerc started from pole at his home race and was widely expected to win at the legendary road circuit, although the 24-year-old has had terrible luck in the past.
But it wasn’t to be, as a poor strategic decision saw Leclerc drop from first to fourth in a matter of laps, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez instead claiming victory ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and Leclerc’s main rival in the Championship, Max Verstappen. claimed for themselves.
Throughout the race, Leclerc berated his team over the radio and grew uncharacteristically angrier at what turned out to be bad decisions by Ferrari.
“Sometimes mistakes can happen, but today there were too many mistakes,” said Leclerc Sky Sports after the race.
“It’s tough, just like the other years here, so I’m getting used to coming home disappointed.
“But we can’t do that, especially at the moment we’re extremely strong now, our pace is strong, we have to take those opportunities.
“We can’t lose that many points, it’s not even first to second, it’s first to fourth because after the first mistake we made another one.
“I love my team and I’m sure we’ll come back stronger, but it hurts a lot.”
Leclerc led in the early stages where conditions were extremely difficult thanks to a sudden downpour that delayed the start of the race by an hour.
Ferrari’s plan was to keep its drivers on wet tires until the track was dry, but they switched to Leclerc on intermediates after seeing other drivers excel on them, a decision that put him behind Sainz and Perez on the dropped third place.
Just a few laps later they put both drivers in the pits on slick tires but Red Bull managed to hit the overcut, pushing Verstappen into third place and knocking Leclerc off the podium.
“Obviously in these conditions you have to rely a bit on what the team can see because you don’t see what the others are doing with the tire strategy,” added Leclerc.
“I don’t understand what made us change our minds and go to the intermediate level. I was asked the question: “Did I want to switch from intermediates to slicks?”
‘[I said yes] but not now, it would be a little later in the race. A lot of mistakes were made and we cannot afford that.”
Leclerc was also asked about his radio messages, which were very heated, in contrast to the calm and composed demeanor the young driver often displays at races.
“The message I had wasn’t clear because I was told to come in and then stay out, but I was already in pit lane so that was the point I just let it all out on the radio and screamed ‘Cause I just couldn’t do anything and I knew I was done.’
The result means Leclerc remains second in the table after seven rounds, now nine points behind leaders Verstappen.
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https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/29/f1-charles-leclerc-blasts-ferrari-for-monaco-grand-prix-failure-16733257/ F1: Charles Leclerc fires Ferrari for failure at Monaco Grand Prix