Ferrari Collapse Blamed for Charles Leclerc’s Defeat Against Max Verstappen in the Final Moments

Ferrari’s title challenge finally came to an end at the Japanese Grand Prix this past Sunday. On the other hand, Max Verstappen won the title in Suzuka due to a last-lap mistake by Charles Leclerc. According to a former-F1 Champion, Ferrari’s inconsistency and complacency seem to have finally rubbed off on Leclerc.

Ferrari and Leclerc weren’t expected to stop Verstappen from becoming Champion. That was a foregone conclusion since F1 resumed after the summer break. However, as a testament to Ferrari’s disastrous 2022 marred by reliability issues and mistakes, Ferrari ended up handing the title to Verstappen in Japan.

In his post-race column for Formule1.nl, Jacques Villeneuve, former Williams driver, said, “With the exception of the first three races, Red Bull has been almost perfect. Ferrari then collapsed, the team went wrong way too often which also increased the pressure on Charles.” [Translated using Google]

“He also started to make mistakes and the question will always be, would that have happened without the blunders of the team? His mistake when he took the lead in Paul Ricard was ultimately crucial for the championship.

“And yesterday it happened again in the last corner.”

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Leclerc cut the chicane on the final lap, which led to a time penalty and ultimately Sergio Perez finishing 2nd. This was enough to crown Max Verstappen as a two-time F1 World Champion. When asked about it, even the Monegasque couldn’t point fingers at anyone else but himself.

Charles Leclerc agrees with the stewards for doing the “right thing” after his last lap mistake at Suzuka

Leclerc could’ve at least delayed Max Verstappen becoming a two-time F1 champion. However, on the very last lap of the rain-interrupted Japanese Grand Prix, he locked up and cut the final chicane.

Eventually, he was handed a 5-second time penalty, which promoted 3rd placed Sergio Perez into P2. This was enough to ensure that Verstappen won his second title in Japan, with a rebranded Honda engine at the back of his car.

However, speaking after the race, Leclerc was in agreement with the stewards. He said, “Well, I don’t have much to say.”

“I did a mistake and tried to minimize it by trying to go straight. I was not aware this was the last lap but the five-second penalty was the right thing to do be honest.”

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Is Charles Leclerc the right man to lead the Scuderia to F1 glory after this?