How Italian media reacted to Charles Leclerc's crash on formation lap amid SF-23 technical issue in Brazil

“Why am I so unlucky?”
Charles Leclerc was brilliant on Friday, securing a front-row start for his Ferrari at the Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying. His outstanding performance prompted the Scuderia to sacrifice the Sprint race to put Leclerc in a position to use the best tire sets for Sunday’s Grand Prix. However, the Ferrari driver didn’t even get to start the race. During the formation lap, Leclerc found himself with the rear wheels locked and the engine off in Turn 6, Ferradura, the same place where he spun out last year after contact with Lando Norris. Via radio, the 1997-born driver vented his frustration, repeating twice, “Why am I so unlucky?” Analyzing telemetry, we can deduce what happened to Charles Leclerc, but only in Maranello will the exact sequence of events that caused SF-23 #16 to retire become clear.

“Qualified explanations will certainly arrive regarding the reason that removed Carletto before the start in Brazil,” writes Leo Turrini in Il Resto del Carlino. “But now, there is a human factor involved here, regardless of technological interpretations. Charles Leclerc is very much loved by the Tifosi of the Prancing Horse. Common people appreciate his daring, even poignant, which he has displayed in incredibly difficult years for the Red Team. It hurts to hear him even consider a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Leclerc desperately needs a result, psychological support, a stroke of luck. Formula One drivers travel at three hundred kilometers per hour, but they are not robots. In the background, the shadows of Chris Amon and Jean Alesi loom: valiant thrill-seeking heroes painted in Red but never kissed by fortune.”

“Losing hydraulics means having issues with brakes, steering, and the engine. And what if it had happened two minutes later during the race? The possibility sends shivers down the spine,” the columns of Italian newspaper La Stampa state in Stefano Mancini’s article titled ‘Ferrari: There’s No Limit to Troubles.’ “This unfortunate season is the second time that Ferrari has shown up on the grid with only one car. It had already happened in Qatar when Carlos Sainz had to stay in the pits due to a problem with the fuel tank. Another painful precedent is the pole position in Monte Carlo in 2021: Ferrari failed to notice that in qualifying, the car had sustained damage to a driveshaft. Invoking bad luck, as Charles Leclerc does, is understandable from a human perspective but unacceptable from a technical point of view. In both cases, parts designed and built to function on a Formula 1 car broke.” – the newspaper pointed out.

La Repubblica, on the other hand, recalls the formation lap at Imola in 1991 when Alain Prost ended up in the grass in the rain: “Purification is necessary,” begins Paolo Rossi’s report. “Objectively, a driver had never been seen going off track on the formation lap. Or rather, one has to go back thirty-two years to Imola in 1991, with Alain Prost and Gerhard Berger going off track during the reconnaissance lap due to pouring rain. In Monte Carlo in 2021, Charles Leclerc himself had trouble with the gearbox, preventing him from starting from pole position. At the end of the season, he probably needs an extra Grand Prix: a Monaco-Lourdes race with pit stops in Montpellier and Toulouse. And perhaps 2024 will have another course. There are symbolic moments, and this image from São Paulo will not help the memory of this season for the Maranello team.” – La Repubblica concluded.