David Croft, the British television broadcaster and commentator for Sky Sports F1, has apologized to Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc following his crash during the qualifying session for the 2023 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, which was held yesterday at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA.
Charles Leclerc’s mistake in the Q3 shootout session cost him the chance to challenge for pole position, as he spun out at Turn 7. However, David Croft has taken some responsibility for what happened, claiming that he may have put a ‘curse’ on the Monegasque driver.
Red Bull Racing Mexican driver Sergio Perez secured pole position for the Miami Grand Prix and will start the race ahead of Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as Charles Leclerc’s crash caused the red flag to be waved with just over 90 seconds remaining in the session.
The 25-year-old Monegasque suffered a crash in his Ferrari SF-23, hitting the tyre wall after losing control of the single-seater in the high-speed corner section in the first sector. Fortunately, the damage was not too severe, and Charles Leclerc will start Sunday’s race from seventh on the grid.
Prior to the incident, Charles Leclerc had been in contention for a front-row start, with David Croft narrating the action on live TV. However, the commentator has since expressed regret for what happened, and apologized to the Ferrari star.
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“And doesn’t that look absolutely epic, that Ferrari…” Croft said before he was made to eat his words, cutting himself off when he noticed the Ferrari man was involved in a huge crash at Turn 7. The Sky Sports F1 commentator then continued: “Oh no! Oh, that’s not epic at all! Charles Leclerc into the barriers and that is the end of his qualifying!”
David Croft later shared a post on his social media accounts to express a brief apology of his own for ‘cursing’ Charles Leclerc. He tweeted to his 471,000 followers: “Yep, Commentators Curse strikes again!! Sorry Charles Leclerc, but it was epic up to that point.”
Regardless, the Ferrari man took full responsibility for the crash that prevented him from starting the Miami Grand Prix from a better position and said sorry to the Maranello team for the “unacceptable” mistake, having lost the rear end of his challenger for the second time at this weekend at the Miami International Autodrome, after a similar moment in FP2.
“Qualifying is my strong point. And obviously, I am taking more risks in Q3. That pays off nine times out of 10. But this is a weekend where twice, I put it in the wall. And this is just not the level where I want to be. I wanted that car to be very tricky, because I knew that’s the way you need to drive this car. And today, it was too much.” – Charles Leclerc explained at the end of the qualifying session.
The Ferrari driver will at least start the race in front of Max Verstappen, who also made an error during his first Q3 run in Miami and did not have the chance to complete his second attempt. However, given the strong pace and performance of the RB19 car, Max Verstappen is expected to easily finish at least in P2.
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