Charles Leclerc denies pressure of delivering for Ferrari in Italy caused Imola crash. Charles denies pressure played a part in costly Imola mistake.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc insisted that the pressure of scoring a good result for the Maranello team in Italy did not lead to the late-race spin in the during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc remained the only Ferrari driver in the race after Carlos Sainz had to retire on the first lap due to a collision caused by Daniel Ricciardo. The Monegasque driver chased the Red Bull of Sergio Perez for the entire race, when he made a mistake and slid off the track. This meant that Charles also finished behind Lando Norris, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas, making him lose important points in his fight with Max Verstappen for the World Champion.

It was a disappointing end to Scuderia Ferrari’s weekend in front of its own fans, Red Bull scoring a one-two which cut into the lead the Italian team had built in the standings after the Australian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc was pushing hard on new Soft tyres, roared on by the Italian fans, when he made his mistake, giving the impression that the pressure had got to him.

However, Charles Leclerc does not agree with the idea that there was pressure being felt when he discussed the crash at the end of the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix:

He said: “No, there wasn’t. That’s what I think at least. Obviously, we’ve had pressure, not only today, but for the whole weekend. I don’t think I’ve done many mistakes before today. It was the mistake that cost me a lot and I’ll learn from it. But no, on my side there was no particular added pressure whatsoever.” – he explained.

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Charles Leclerc has made mistakes during his short Formula 1 career but has often proved strong at learning from them and coming back stronger, making sure that they do not happen again: “Maybe this one is a bit different,” he admitted, as he took a moment to reflect. I mean, it’s one of those mistakes where it’s just the mental approach that you had at that particular moment of the race, but I’ve always been strong at knowing exactly which particular feeling I felt at that moment of the race and knowing how to correct it. Again, it’s a mistake, but I’ll learn from it and won’t do it again. And with the mistake, actually, I’ve only lost seven points to what I could have scored. But it’s seven points that could be valuable at the end of the season. Every point counts when you’re fighting for the title, so it won’t happen again.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.