Following a difficult F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, Charles Leclerc criticized his catastrophic spin, saying it “shouldn’t have happened.”
After a strong start to the 2022 season, Ferrari’s homecoming to Italy was ruined on the first lap when Carlos Sainz collided with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and became caught in the gravel.
Leclerc would later spin dramatically after failing to challenge Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for second. Max Verstappen eventually won the Grand Prix, closing the championship gap to 27 points behind Leclerc.
“Whatever happened before the spin are just details. The spin shouldn’t have happened today,” Leclerc said in an interview with Sky sports. “I had P3 but I was too greedy. I paid the price for it and lost seven potential points.
“Seven points would be valuable at the end of the championship.”
Talking about the championship fight with Red Bull the Ferrari driver said, “It is very, very close and I think it will be that way for the rest of the season and that is why every small mistake… well it’s a big mistake… but the consequence considering the mistake could have been much bigger”
“It’s only seven points today and it could cost more the next time so I need to be careful of that.”
The Monesgague later shared a post on social media: “I gave it all but went over the limit at the end… sorry to the team and to all the tifosi that supports us. Instead of a P3, it ended up in a P6. We’ll come back stronger.”
Leclerc skidded into the barriers and had to pit to repair his Ferrari, but he came back to finish sixth after a pit stop. Meanwhile, Perez came in second behind teammate Verstappen, with Lando Norris bringing in his McLaren in third.
Carlos sainz also talked about his retirement on the first lap: “I didn’t get the best of starts with Charles. We need to analyse that.”
“We got cleanly into Turn 2. Daniel went into the turn leaving plenty of space but the front of the car bumped into me.”
“It was an unlucky situation to go into the gravel. Nothing I could have done. It is really bad, definitely a tough moment.”
