Formula 1 sporting boss Ross Brawn believes Charles Leclerc “went too far” in his attempts to recover lost ground in the Monaco Grand Prix after Ferrari’s qualifying misjudgment.
Leclerc was a shock casualty in the opening segment of qualifying when Ferrari chose to keep him in the garage believing he was safe from elimination.
The Monegasque admitted the team’s blunder would leave him having to ‘risk crashing’ to salvage a result at his home race.
On Lap 9, Leclerc attempted to pass Nico Hulkenberg at La Rasscasse but clouted the inside barrier, causing a right-rear puncture which in turn with a damaged floor led to his first retirement this season.
“Charles went too far and paid a high price for his impetuousness,” said Brawn in his post-Monaco column.
“His reaction was understandable, however. It’s his home race and his first attempt at it with a front-running team. It was supposed to be a special moment but it ended only in disappointment.”
Ferrari secured its best result of 2019 so far with Sebastian Vettel’s drive to second place, but, given the weekend was a clear indicator it was behind Mercedes and Red Bull on pure pace, Brawn insists it doesn’t hide the Italian outfit’s present issues.
“It was a difficult weekend for Ferrari, although it ended with their best result of the year,” Brawn added.
“Vettel’s second place came at the end of a race in which he didn’t play a key role, sitting behind [Max] Verstappenthroughout but unable to really worry the Dutchman.
“It reflected a weekend during which the Scuderia was the third strongest team. That was predictable given what we saw in Barcelona, where the car struggled, especially in the third sector of that track.
“The season seems to be getting away from the Maranello team, but it’s not the time to give up and it must learn from its mistakes if it wants to move forward.”
