F1 Pundit Calls For Charles Leclerc To "Stop Crashing" And Holding Ferrari Back After Miami GP
Sky Sports F1 reporter Martin Brundle has called for Charles Leclerc to "stop crashing his car" as "it's holding him and the team back".
The Monegasque driver crashed twice over the Miami Grand Prix weekend, in FP2 and qualifying. During his column for Sky Sports, Brundle analysed the current situation in the Maranello-based squad.
He explained:
“Ferrari are struggling for race pace and a distant fifth and seventh was a poor result for them.
“Leclerc must stop crashing his car, it’s holding him and the team back.
“There are always knock-on effects during a race weekend from those incidents, and he needed a new aero underfloor after the qualifying crash which may have contributed to the bouncing and issues he reported in the race.
“He is unbelievably fast and committed, and he can afford to trade a fraction of that to build a better race weekend, and so a better season.
“He must lead the team to higher things and not keep the repair shop so busy.”
Brundle went on to discuss the dominance that the Red Bull team are experiencing at the moment. The Austrian team have won every race so far this season and have achieved a 1-2 finish in four out of those five. Brundle continued:
“It’s a pity that Red Bull breached the cost cap regulations last year because it’s too easy for some to try to minimise what they are achieving now.
“They are dominant, and it’s for the other teams and drivers to do a better job.
“With the DRS rear wing open the Red Bull is fundamentally much faster in top speed than the other nine teams, so much so that I suspect that wherever they start on the grid, and given no outside factors, they can finish one-two.
“Their speed is simply irresistible and that’s where the other teams must focus.
“It won’t be easy, that’s an overall car design philosophy rather than an update, and even then, only after they’ve understood what Red Bull are doing to dump so much drag.”