New Theory Suggests Charles Leclerc Might Be Covering for F1 Legacy Constructor on Biggest ‘Oversteer’ of the Season

A season where Charles Leclerc aimed to battle for the crown of F1, has unfolded into him battling with the Ferrari catastrophes instead. However, he has refused to play the blame game and has been adamant that excuses don’t win championships.

Recently, at the French GP, he clinched pole position and was leading the race on Sunday. But his Grand Prix concluded on lap 18 as he found himself in the wall at turn 11. Following the crash, a team radio that still rings in the ears of the Tifosi to date saw Leclerc exclaiming “couldn’t get off the throttle” which was followed by a scream as he yelled “Nooooo”.

Although his comments over the radio put the blame on the team; in his media interview, the 24-year-old put himself under fire. He acclaimed it to be a ‘driver error’, rather than it being a shortcoming of the F1-75.

As a result, many suspected that the Italians are putting the words into his mouth, and the former F1 driver, Hans-Joachim Stuck shares the same opinion.

“I don’t know how much longer Ferrari will give him credit, But something else is still a mystery to me: Charles Leclerc’s departure from Le Castellet. If you look at the accident a hundred times: the oversteer didn’t come from him.” 

“I can imagine that he was instructed by the team to claim that he made a mistake even though there was a problem with the car,” Stuck commented. He further insisted that the Ferrari is under “enormous pressure”

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He concluded by opining on the future of Mattia Binotto, “Ferrari has the potential, but they haven’t implemented it yet. I don’t know how much credit he has left at Ferrari.” 

How Charles Leclerc will race in the second half of 2022?

In 2021, Lewis Hamilton said over his team radio, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint” when he described his quest for the world title, and the words of the Brit need to be put in the ears of the Ferrari. In 2022, the F1-75 is the performance benchmark and the results of the initial races pointed towards an Italian domination this season.

Nevertheless, over the longer distance, the team has fallen behind because of multiple strategic errors. At Le Castellet, Leclerc said, “It’s unacceptable, I just need to get on top of those things.” But, when talking about the second half of the season, he feels confident that nothing needs an alteration.

The Monegasque said, “I really feel like this first part of the season has been my strongest in F1 and I think the way I have worked, and the way we have worked as a team – in terms of finding the right set-up, in terms of building up to the qualifying lap in Q3, or just preparing the race – has been the best I have ever done in F1.”

“So there is no need for me to change that approach. Again, try and grow from the mistakes of the first half, but try and perform as well as the first half because the performance I’ve given, I’m extremely happy about. And this I want to keep.”

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Do you think Charles Leclerc can bounce back in the rest of the 2022 season? Let us know.