Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto jumped to Charles Leclerc’s defense after he darted out of the lead of the French Grand Prix and assisted the Monaco native back from the blunder as a better driver.
Leclerc takes full responsibility for his irresistible error on Paul Ricard, who delivered the usual win for runaway championship leader Max Verstappen.
The Monaco-born was also knocked out of second place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in April, costing him several points.
Due to a combination of his own mistakes, Ferrari’s strategic blunders and reliability issues, Leclerc has seen the early championship easily evaporate and now he quits. 68 points away from the Red Bull driver, just seven points short of three points-worth all-race wins.
Although Leclerc criticized himself on Sunday, Binotto felt the mistake was a different moment.
“I think it’s an unfair judgment,” Binotto said of whether Leclerc is prone to error. “I think for sure he was driving at the limit. There are things that can happen when you are driving to the limit.
“Why did it happen, [we will see if] Is there anything else, we discuss and arbitrate with him, but now there is no reason to blame him.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll learn. We’ve always seen that Charles reacts very strongly and well when he makes mistakes. And I’m pretty sure he’ll come back to Hungary stronger and hungry. thirstier.”
F1’s season continues with the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 31, the last race before the championship has a three-week mid-season break.
