Charles Leclerc has been slammed for raging at his Ferrari team following the error which cost him the chance to win the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Monegasque looked set to win his home race for the first time in his Formula 1 career, starting on pole and leading from the front. However, it all unravelled when he was called in for a change of tyres, and entered the pit lane before his panicked race engineer told him to stay out. The error saw him come back out in fourth as he raged over the radio.
"F*** f**** Why?! What are you doing?!" he shouted at the time, as he was forced to wait behind team-mate Carlos Sainz in the pit lane before his tyres were changed. He went on to discuss the incident after the race, in a TV interview in which he also struggled to hide his anger.
"Let down is not the word," he said. "Some mistakes can happen but there have been too many mistakes today. We cannot do that, especially in the moment we are in now, when we are extremely strong. We need to take these opportunities, and it's not even first to second, it's first to fourth."
With Leclerc chasing his dream of becoming world champion for the first time, some might describe his comments and frustration as understandable. But former F1 star Ralf Schumacher was left unimpressed by the 24-year-old's outburst as he too has made costly mistakes in the past.
"He's screwed up enough himself, so he should be meek," Schumacher told Sky Germany . "Things happen. You win together and lose together. So far, the team has done less wrong than he has."
However, another retired German racer was quick to jump to the Monegasque's defence. Timo Glock felt Leclerc's frustration was justified as the mistake cost him what would likely have been a race victory and a chance to move back to the top of the drivers' standings.
"The calm that was there with Red Bull's strategy was missing at Ferrari.," said Glock. "That cost them the win. You could hear how much panic there was on the radio.
"I didn't understand why they didn't continue with this pace or reacted earlier. You didn't know where to go with Charles. In the end, you made the wrong decision and that's how Leclerc's curse was upheld in Monaco."
