LE CASTELLET, France – Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed off the path French Grand Prixdeal a fatal blow to his title chances.
Leclerc was in command and expected to blow a new tire as he ran wide at the high-speed 11th Turn and plowed straight into the fence.
The blunder gave the race lead to rival Max Verstappen, who led Leclerc by 38 points in the race.
Leclerc was unharmed in the incident but was clearly devastated by the incident and its reproaches. On the team radio, he said he “couldn’t slow down” before shouting “no!” for his race engineer.
Leclerc had problems with his throttle last lap in Austria when it was still partially open during the final laps of the race. He managed to manage the problem to win the race, but it is unclear if that is related to the problem he suffered in France.
As a result, Leclerc retired for the third time in a year following two power unit problems in Spain and Azerbaijan.
