Charles Leclerc was distraught with a mistake that caused him to crash out from the lead of the French Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver spun into the barriers at the high-speed Turn 11 after losing the rear of the car, but walked away unhurt. With a frustrated Leclerc referencing the throttle pedal, it wasn't immediately obvious if this crash was down to driver error, or a repeat of the throttle pedal issues he suffered en route to his Austrian GP victory. However, speaking after his race, the Ferrari driver conceded that he made a costly error, and was furious at losing the points. "[It was] a mistake," said Leclerc. "I think I'm performing at the highest level in my career, but if I keep doing those mistakes, then it's pointless to perform at a very high level. I'm losing too many points. "It's just me trying to push too much, and then I lost the rear. It's been a very difficult weekend for me; I struggled with the balance of the car. "When it's warm like this, it's very difficult to be consistent. It's been very difficult to put laps together and I did a mistake at the wrong moment."
Leclerc remorseful over "unacceptable" mistakes
With Red Bull's Max Verstappen going on to take the win at Circuit Paul Ricard, the Dutchman's championship lead over Leclerc has extended to 63 points. Ferrari have also experienced reliability issues in the first half of the season, adding to the increasing pressure to turn pole positions into victories. With Leclerc making a mistake at the Emilia Romagna GP earlier in the year, the Monegasque driver was frustrated to be contributing to the points deficit. "I think it was seven points in Imola and 25 here because, honestly, we were probably the strongest car on track today," added Leclerc. "If we lose the championship by 32 points at the end of the season, I will know where those points have come from, and it's unacceptable. I just need to get on top of those things."
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