The weekend in Baku was a rejuvenating sight for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari fans. However, the freshness didn’t last long as the Monegasque found himself in a similar position as last year’s several weekends: in the barriers. The fans expected a lot better is expected from him, especially when the team is planning to bring bigger upgrades to reduce the deficit to Red Bull. He finished third in both practice sessions.

Leclerc’s exceptional qualifying ability didn’t help his case either. Just days after he was hailed by the Tifosi and F1 fans as a great qualifier in an inconsistent car, the same lot turned against him. Leclerc buried his car into the barriers about 10 minutes before the end of the session, which earned him the name “Lecrash.”

Charles Leclerc became the first driver to take a penalty for the new parts, just two races into the season. In Jeddah, he took a 10-place penalty for crossing the two control electronics limits for the season. With his crash, Leclerc merely dodged inflicting damage on his two new parts. For the weekend in the United States, he has taken a new MGU-K and a gearbox, both of which are the first of the four permitted components for the season, as reported by Planet F1.

No doubt, the fans slandered him for reckless driving during a time when the team is struggling and undergoing several challenges. In addition to his crash, the team also faced a major setback in technical recruitment as the three engineers, reported to be leaving for Maranello from Milton Keynes, seem to have backtracked and plan to stay with Max Verstappen & Co. for now. 

Fans not letting Charles Leclerc easily off the hook

Leclerc has proven himself to be a skilled and talented racer, but championship worthy? Not yet, according to many of the fans. Some fans took to social media to express their frustration and disappointment, yet lack of surprise at Leclerc’s mistake. Many criticized his lack of concentration and questioned his ability to handle the pressure of a high-stakes race.

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Fans were ruthless towards the driver. While the crash seems to have damaged the front, no other serious damage reports have come out of the Ferrari garage.

On Saturday, Leclerc would have a chance to get a better hang of the circuit with the third practice session. Sadly, the circumstances for qualifying for the race would be more similar to those of FP2, which again doesn’t help the driver’s case.

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What do you think of the criticism of the Ferrari Golden Boy? Will he be able to have a better run on Saturday? Or meet a similar fate as that in FP2?