Mattia Binotto’s “Cursed Gift” to Frederic Vasseur Blamed for Charles Leclerc’s Brazilian GP Crash

Nothing in the recent past would’ve been as devastating for a Ferrari fan as listening to Charles Leclerc practically plead, “Why am I so unlucky?” on the radio during the Brazilian GP. Well, not during, but rather before. The Monegasque was having a surprising weekend which started with qualifying in second for the main race. It happened in weather conditions that confused Leclerc just as much as his P2 did. But he seemed to have taken his good form into Saturday for the Sprint. But as things with Ferrari usually go, nothing good lasts. Just like that, Leclerc’s front-row start on Sunday turned into a DNS, and guess who’s to blame.

While ‘Ferrari’ may be a good guess, there’s a more detailed answer for the blame game. That answer includes a certain former Ferrari Team Principal who preceded Frederic Vasseur. He’s also known to have cursed Leclerc’s career. Who is it? Mattia Binotto.

Charles Leclerc can’t seem to get rid of Mattia Binotto

On the formation lap for the Brazilian GP, Leclerc was weaving to warm his tires up. While doing so, he suddenly lost control of his car and crashed into the car. No, it wasn’t a driver error like that of Romain Grosjean at the 2016 Brazilian GP. Leclerc said, “I lost the hydraulics” as soon as he crashed. But in an interview after his crash, he revealed it wasn’t the hydraulics but didn’t expand further. Either way, it is a reliability issue that Ferrari needs to sort out. 

Speaking of reliability and Mattia Binotto, the Italian visited the F1 paddock for the first time since leaving Ferrari at the British GP. Coincidentally, Leclerc’s SF-23 had an electrical problem before FP2. Fans put two and two together and concluded that Binotto was the cause of Leclerc’s bad luck. It seems like, even without being in the paddock, he managed to cause the Monegasque pain in Brazil. On the F1 Nation Podcast, host Tom Clarkson said, The reliability has been particularly poor at Ferrari. Let’s not forget that in Qatar, Carlos Sainz failed to make the start.”

He continued, “This actually registers as a ‘failed to make the start’ for Charles Leclerc as well. And they’re four races apart.” To this, F1 journalist Fred Ferret replied, “I think that’s the next thing they have to work on. First was understanding that car. The new management received a cursed gift.” After Binotto left Ferrari in 2022, new management headed by Fred Vasseur has taken over. But the SF-23 is a car that was built under Binotto’s leadership, and no matter how good the F1-75 was, the SF-23 just hasn’t hit the mark. “Now, the second thing is working on reliability because that will work too for next year,” added Ferret.

The incident was completely out of Leclerc’s control, and Ferrari was solely to blame. Needless to say, the Monegasque was disappointed with what happened.

Read More: Charles Leclerc Contract Update: Will the Potential World Champion Trust Ferrari after 2023’s Colossal Failure?

Charles Leclerc expressed his “disappointment” after the Brazilian GP

Leclerc hadn’t expected to qualify on the front row of the grid. He also may not have been expecting to fight for the win, considering Ferrari’s tire degradation problems from Saturday. Maybe a podium could’ve been on the cards. What he did expect was getting to start the race. That was the bare minimum. But in a Monaco-like situation, he registered another DNS to his name. He told the media, “When I lost the steering wheel and I went straight, basically. I had no hydraulics anymore.”

He further explained, “I don’t think it’s a hydraulics problem. I know what it is. I cannot go too much into detail. There was an engine thing that made me lock the rear wheels. Then I spun and hit the wall. I couldn’t do anything.” He even posted a picture of himself on Instagram from when he got out of the car, looking absolutely dejected. He wrote, “Disappointed to say the least. Lost the power steering and the engine power on the formation lap. It hurts because today was a great opportunity for us.”

WATCH THIS STORY | How Long Will Charles Leclerc Wait for Ferrari – Will He Leave for Some Other team Post-2024?

Do you think Ferrari can make it up to Charles Leclerc in the last two races of the season?