The Monegasque driver had controlled the race at Paul Ricard after resisting a challenge from title rival Max Verstappen in the opening stages.
But soon after Verstappen opted to opt for an early tire change, everything went wrong for Leclerc on lap 18 as he spun at Turn 11, knocking him out of the race.
Stuck in the barriers, he spoke to his team on the radio and was broadcast giving them the message: “I can’t speed up.”
His reference to the accelerator, just a fortnight after battling a sticky accelerator pedal in the closing stages of the Austrian GP, sparked wild theories that Leclerc had been knocked out by a repeated problem.
Although Leclerc admitted after the race that the crash had been his mistake, conspiracies were further fueled when Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache was filmed after the Dutchman’s victory telling him he had heard at radio that it was a throttle problem.
But Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is clear that Leclerc’s radio comment was entirely related to his attempts to back out of the guardrail and had nothing to do with the cause of the crash. crash itself.
“First, there was no problem with the accelerator itself, [it was] nothing to do with Austria,” he explained.
“What happened is a real mistake by Charles, what can happen, and I don’t think they take anything away from him being a driver and a fantastic driver. But it was a real mistake.
“What you heard on the radio was about when he was in reverse trying to get out of the barriers. There is a strategy, without going into all the details, which [meant] he was on the throttle, but didn’t feel enough torque from the engine. It was nothing wrong. Simply the strategy there.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, is brought back to the pits after crashing into the lead
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Binotto explained that the cause of the throttle problems in Austria had been completely resolved after being traced to a sticky component.
“Normally we don’t discuss many details of what is happening, but what happened in Austria is very simple,” he said.
“There was a shock which was slightly sticky. No more than that. And we have already implemented actions to avoid it in the future.
