The best car on the track, yet the rankings once again don’t show it and the points deficit against Red Bull is now even bigger: the French Grand Prix ended with Charles Leclerc falling back 63 points behind Max Verstappen, while the Scuderia from Maranello is now 82 behind Red Bull. Yet it seemed like it would be another Red Sunday.
At the start, Charles Leclerc defended the pole position he secured in Qualifying and in the first stint he managed to defend against Max Verstappen, despite the fact that the Red Bull driver had DRS available for almost ten laps. Then, the spin that transformed the dream into another nightmare, the first which can be attributed to a driver error. Charles Leclerc had already made a mistake in Imola, but this error led to a DNF and has more significance since it occurred as a leader of the race.
‘Leclerc in the barriers’ is the title of Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, that writes: “So he is indeed human. The shortness of breath that hits the microphone, once, twice, three times. Even now it seems we can still hear it. And then that scream, ‘noooooooo’, which comes from the cave in which he has sunk. A Munch sound. Faced with the cruelty of the racing nature. Charles Leclerc against the wall. Against himself. After an amazing pole, built as a team. Just as he is leading a race which was hot outside (asphalt at 57°) and inside. After Austria, he wants and can also win in France. Instead: zero for him. The third DNF of the year. This time due to a mistake by him. Adieu to Paul Ricard and maybe also to the World Championship”.
‘The wailing wall’ is instead the opening of the page from La Gazzetta dello Sport: “He felt alone, Charles Leclerc. very much alone. Overwhelmed by the inner weight of making a fatal mistake on lap 18 of a French GP he was dominating, which was showing a great Ferrari and a struggling Red Bull. The Monegasque lost control of his F1-75 in turn 11, spun and then hit the barriers with his nose. Retirement, end of the dream of winning the fourth race of the World Championship and reducing the gap in the ranking. An explosive anger, gasping breaths, a scream inside the helmet, the connection that has remained open, millions of fans who could hear it” – writes La Gazzetta dello Sport the day after the French Grand Prix.
“He accused himself, he punished himself” – is the beginning of an editorial by Giorgio Terruzzi for Il Corriere della Sera – “but can here forgive Charles Leclerc for an error that has the size of half a world crown, since it throws him at minus 63 points from Verstappen . He made a mistake, of course, after having made a tactical masterpiece on the track, keeping Max behind at the start just enough to avoid overtaking without tearing the tires. He made an error, of course, unlike his rival who drives a very solid car with the confidence of someone who can afford to finish second every Sunday”.
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‘Ferrari own goal’ is the title of La Stampa which underlines how the long list of regrets for the Maranello team is now also joined by a heavy mistake from Charles Leclerc: “After reliability and strategic errors, Ferrari’s latest own goal is scored by its driver. The incident was missing from the chain of events that push Ferrari away from the top of the standings, despite having the fastest car. Leclerc starts well from pole position of the French Grand Prix, resists Verstappen’s unconvinced attacks and seems to have the situation in hand. But on lap 18, turn 11, he loses the car in a trivial way and ends up against the safety barriers. The international tv director mercilessly airs his chilling ‘nooo’. End of the race and end of the hopes for a comeback.”
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