Charles Leclerc was on his way to make a bid for his 20th career pole, which would have seen him equal Damon Hill and Valtteri Bottas‘ record, but that dream went up in flames quicker than we thought it would. This isn’t the first time Leclerc, having speed gods favor him, has committed an error. For the uninitiated, let’s go back to the 2022 French Grand Prix where the Monegasque leading the race spun out and the screams probably still echo the corridors of Maranello. And we saw a similar error and rage a few moments ago.
The qualifying was a rather dull affair before Lewis Hamilton got left out in Q2 and that probably set in motion the thrill as we went into Q3 we saw a gliding Max Verstappen botch his flying lap. But the main viewer attraction came when Charles Leclerc, greedy for a bit more and pushing really hard, went into the wall on Turn 7 and brought out a Red Flag.
In Free Practice 2, Leclerc saw himself get a one-way ticket to the barrier. While that seemed like a one-off situation, we saw a repeat telecast of the same during the qualifying of the Miami Grand Prix. Nate Saunders of ‘Unlapped: An ESPN F1 show’ immediately took to Twitter to pose a question. He wrote, “Leclerc is still too error-prone to be world champion, isn’t he?” and all hell broke loose.
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Tifosi lashes out at Charles Leclerc after the heartbreaking crash
Charles Leclerc bagged 2 poles during the Baku outing last weekend and he was predicted to start way up in the order if not on the pole at Miami. While the man who crashed during the Sprint qualifier still maintaining his P1 position, got dealt with the short end of the stick this time and F1 Twitter just became very unforgiving.
Agreed. Despite being my favourite racer on the grid cannot deny it. He is too error prone in clutch times.
— Nabeel (@EnterTheHangman) May 6, 2023
I cannot agree more. Whenever there is some pressure, he fails to deliver with a driving error.
— Triki (@trikilimper) May 6, 2023
He has made so many mistakes and chocked so many times to continue as Ferrari driver.
— DAVID (@IamDavid726) May 6, 2023
Even if he goes to Merc it’s not gonna change. His risk management still needs work.
— punxsutawney philistine (@boulwiththejawn) May 6, 2023
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Yes. Not a Max fan but even though he was stupidly too aggressive at the beginning he didn't make a bunch of dumb mistakes. Leclerc still isn't consistent enough and makes dumb mistakes
— Alex Lopez (@lopezalexman) May 6, 2023
Charles Leclerc is Ferrari’s biggest hope to beat the mighty Red Bulls and Max Verstappen. He was the only one who briefly came close to beating the Dutchman last year. But seeing this kind of error from him, Fans are now questioning if he really is the man for the job.
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Do you think Charles Leclerc deserves to be a champion with his dream team, Ferrari?