F1 World Stifle Laughter at Max Verstappen’s “Mario Kart” Manoeuvre That Robbed Charles Leclerc of a Fighting Chance at Belgian GP

Formula 1 returned with the Belgian GP at the iconic circuit of Spa. Max Verstappen took everybody by surprise, as his Red Bull flew through the circuit. The Austrian constructors finished 1-2 with Sergio Perez coming in second. However, it was another disappointing afternoon for Ferrari, as pole-sitter Carlos Sainz finished third and Leclerc finished P6.

Charles Leclerc was handed a 5-second penalty after the race for speeding in pit lane. However, it was an interesting incident in the opening laps of the race took F1 Twitter by storm. Leclerc pitted after the Safety Car was deployed as Max Verstappen’s visor tear-off got stuck in Charles’ front right brake duct.

While it was not intentional by the World Champion, the incident meant Leclerc’s race effectively ended in the opening few laps itself. F1 Twitter was as quick as Verstappen, as they shared their opinions.

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In case you are wondering, a tear-off is a plastic sheet that drivers put on their visors and remove when it gets blurry or dirty.

Max Verstappen tears off Leclerc’s race

While it might not be a deliberate attempt by Verstappen, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto claims Verstappen’s visor tear-off caused Leclerc’s downfall in the Belgian GP which eventually cost him his race. Leclerc was forced to pit after he complained of smoke coming off his brakes.

Binotto also blamed the incident for Leclerc’s 5-second penalty after the race. The Italian said, “It was really, really borderline. I think it was by 0.1kph in the average speed in the pit lane.”

“We were not using our normal sensors for measuring the speed because they had failed during the overheating of the front-right due to the tear-off of Max and our recovery strategy was maybe not so accurate for this 0.1.”

“Overall, it has been an unlucky situation.”

He also defended his team strategists, who were under fire once again for asking Leclerc to pit in the final stages of the race. Binotto said, “You need to be brave in F1. If there is any opportunity to get the fastest lap – as there was, [we had] the margin on Fernando to stop and try to go for it. I think it was the right decision.”

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Max Verstappen’s lead is now 98 points to third-placed Charles Leclerc. However, Charles is not giving up on the championship yet. He and Ferrari need to pull out a rabbit from the hat if they are to have any chances of winning the title. Do you think the Monegasque driver can defy the odds?