Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc gave Formula 1 fans excellent meme material after his unfortunate crash at the Dutch Grand Prix, caused by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. A contemplative Leclerc was caught by F1 TV plonked on a sand dune after an ambitious maneuver by Antonelli ended his race early.
Leclerc was also caught by cameras using the race marshals’ fold-out chair to sit and mull his race instead of dragging himself back to the paddock.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix while teammate Lando Norris’ McLaren broke down. The incident could have championship-deciding consequences. An inconsolable Norris too was seen sitting next to the race track during the race.
How did Leclerc’s race end?
Leclerc’s race ended after Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli tried to overtake Leclerc on the inside of a tight banked corner on Turn 3. But instead of a clean getaway, Antonelli’s vehicle clipped Leclerc’s rear wheel, thus sending the Ferrari hurtling into the barrier.
What made the Monegasque driver’s misery even more acute was the fact that Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton also crashed out of the race in The Netherlands. In fact, Leclerc hit the wall in almost the same spot as his teammate Lewis Hamilton had crashed out earlier in the race.
This means Ferrari will go into their home race at Monza on the back of a double did not finish.
‘It hurts’: Leclerc on the incident
“What created the incident is Kimi being overly optimistic on the inside of Turn 3, which is fine – you’ve got to be aggressive and mistakes happen,” Leclerc said at the press conference later.
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“But it hurts, because it cost a lot to the team after what was a good race. I think the pace was good. I had to be very aggressive to make up the places that we had lost because of being unlucky during the first Safety Car. We did kind of everything right, so it was a shame.”
“Yeah. It’s been a very difficult weekend,” said the Monegasque driver for Ferrari. “Apart from the race, it’s been an uphill weekend, so I hope we can start on a better foot in Monza and have a better weekend overall.”
What did Antonelli say about the incident?
“It’s a shame because the race was looking good, the pace was very strong and we were coming back and, yeah, I tried,” conceded Antonelli.
“It didn’t feel like I overshot massively, it was a bit unfortunate because, while I was trying to keep it tight, it came a bit down from the banking and that was the moment when the contact happened.
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“It was a shame, I feel sorry because obviously it’s not nice to take someone out. At least [there were] some positives today, and we move forward.”
Antonelli apologises to Leclerc
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed that Antonelli had gone to apologise to Leclerc for ending the driver’s race early.
“He came to apologize to Charles. Charles was not there, but he came to me. And honestly I appreciate this,” Vasseur said. “It’s not so easy to overtake in Zandvoort. It means that you have to take a risk. He took a risk. He made a mistake.”
