Nico Rosberg ‘scared’ by Ferrari SF1000 behaviour in Charles Leclerc crash at Monza. Charles' DNF was Ferrari’s second of the day.

Despite the fact that Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has taken the blame for his crash at the Monza Circuit which ended his Italian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg admitted that the incident was the result of a “very, very difficult” Ferrari car.

Charles crashed out of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix when he lost the back end of his SF1000 through Parabolica. Flying across the gravel, the Monégasque driver speared into the tyres barriers, his race over. Thankfully he didn’t suffer any serious injuries, revealing he was just “a bit sore”.

Speaking to the media after being released from the track’s medical centre, the driver took full responsibility for the accident.

“I just lost the car,” said Leclerc as he described the crash. It’s my fault. It was a very difficult race to be honest, then I thought we were unlucky with the Safety Car but we were lucky. With the hard tyres I struggled massively, I tried to push but lost it in Parabolica and crashed. It was just a mistake by my side, it was very difficult to drive prior to the crash but no excuses, it was my mistake.” – he explained.

Yet Nico Rosberg reckons it wasn’t entirely the driver’s fault as the SF1000 is “very, very difficult” to drive: “Especially the behaviour of the car scared me,” he told RTL – “He accelerated out of the corner, everything was under control and then suddenly he loses the rear of the car, catches it once, and then loses it again. The Ferrari seems very, very difficult to drive.” – he explained.

Asked if he would call the Ferrari ‘undriveable’, the 2016 World Champion replied: “That is exactly the word I have learned not to use anymore because otherwise I will be quoted again and it gets exaggerated. But the Ferrari is very difficult to drive.”

Charles Leclerc’s DNF was Ferrari’s second of the day as earlier in the race Sebastian Vettel’s car suffered a brake failure. The German went hurtling off the track and through the polystyrene blocks before limping back to the pits. Without a single point for the second race in succession, Ferrari dropped to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with just 61 points on the board.