Villeneuve claims Leclerc can only blame himself for technical failure
May 25 - Charles Leclerc "can only blame himself" for the technical failure that meant he couldn't even start last Sunday's Monaco GP, according to 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.
Although quickest in qualifying, the local driver then crashed his Ferrari on his next and final lap - triggering questions about whether it may have been a 'Rascasse-gate'-style deliberate move.
The FIA, however, insists Leclerc didn't do it on purpose.
"I don't think any driver would go out there to severely damage their car to that degree in any circumstance," said F1 race director Michael Masi.
But the questions then started to be posed in Ferrari's direction, because the team elected not to change Leclerc's gearbox - a component that is normally damaged in similar impacts.
Red Bull's Dr Helut Marko said: "I can say that our car would have been broken."
La Gazzetta dello Sport correspondent Gianluca Gasparini wondered: "Can we condemn Ferrari's men who thought the SF21 was ok?"
Ferrari said the problem wasn't the gearbox itself, but due to a crack in the driveshaft hub.
"No one would do something with the knowledge that the car would break down as soon as it left the box," the Italian journalist added. "But is it possible that in order to save the gearbox, they didn't focus on anything else?"
Outspoken 1997 title winner Villeneuve, however, knows exactly where to point the finger of blame.
"He can only blame himself," the French Canadian told RTBF, referring to Leclerc. "He hit the wall, so we can't be sad for him."
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True. He still had time for another fast lap. He didn't pull a Schumacher or a Rosberg (remember when Nico did that to Lewis at Monaco?)
Yeah, the kid bashed the fence and wrecked his car. That explains the red team's missing the damage???
Powerfull portable xrays machines gotta be a winner im telling you , im phoning Mattia right now
Before the machine will work you have to identify the trouble spot, something the red team didn't do. I'm not defending LEC smacking the wall, but the team should have id'd the problem. And please, Mattie, don't try to sell a 'separate issue' story. That's like Toto blaming BOT for a mechanical failure.
Probably what happened was, at Ferraris hospitality area , 10 cases of German wine suspiciously appeared from nowhere, unfortunately all the mechanics got totally hammered and forgot to check the driveshaft hub for cracks.
See mystery solved it was those pesky Germans again...lol
you sound like a true Germaphobe and you should be ashamed
Most likely there would have been no problem to find if Charles had not kissed the wall... I'm afraid that Villeneuve is right on this
Yes, Captain Jacques Obvious was right. He was due... he is as full of BS as Marko and Toto.
john d mann commented on May 29, 2021 at 01:18
you sound like a true Germaphobe and you should be ashamed
Ermmm...noun: germaphobe
a person with an extreme fear of germs and an obsession with cleanliness.