"It was a terrible mistake"- Mika Hakkinen's 1999 F1 Italian GP crash 'harder to forgive' than Charles Leclerc's 2022 F1 French GP error

Charles Leclerc's race-ending crash at the 2022 F1 French GP was not as awful as that of Mika Hakkinen at the 1999 F1 Italian GP, claims respected F1 journalist Damien Smith.

In his column for Motor Sport Magazine, Smith was quick to point out that mistakes happen when you're driving at a very high level, but it's rare for top drivers to throw away a win this way. He wrote:

“Mistakes happen. He’s human. But it’s rare for top drivers to throw away leads as Leclerc did. The moment carried echoes of a similarly painful drop, but from a man who already had a world title under his belt – and was under much less pressure. At least at first glance.”

Smith drew parallels with what happened to Mika Hakkinen in 1999 and to Charles Leclerc last week. He mentioned how Hakkinen was still relatively under less pressure as compared to Leclerc, writing:

“Remember Mika Häkkinen at Monza in 1999? The Finn and reigning world champion didn’t even have his nemesis breathing down his neck. Michael Schumacher was in the final stages of recovery from the broken leg incurred a couple of months earlier at the British GP, an accident that spoilt for the third consecutive season his increasingly desperate bid to end Ferrari’s 20-year world title drought. He wasn’t even in the Italian GP.”

Contrasting it with Leclerc's situation, Smith expanded on how the Ferrari driver was fending off championship rival Max Verstappen at that point. He wrote:

“Fast-forward to Leclerc at Paul Ricard on Sunday. He’d led from pole position and fended off early attention from Verstappen, but the French GP was still well and truly in the balance as he headed to the Beausset long right-hander on lap 18. Leclerc’s nemesis, Max Verstappen, had stopped two laps earlier for what was planned as his only pit visit and a set of hard-compound Pirellis.”

“The question now for Ferrari’s ace was how long he could eke out his worn mediums to create a positive tyre strategy offset that would give him an advantage later in the race. He’d sure need it if he was to lose the lead to the Red Bull at his own stop and was then forced into an on-track pass of the hard-headed world champion.”

“So this was real pressure. Yes, Charles shouldn’t have spun, and yes, it was a terrible mistake. But at least there was context. Häkkinen’s error was harder to forgive.”

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Charles Leclerc should know that even proven greats do make mistakes once in a while

Damien Smith feels that Charles Leclerc needs to know that even the greats have binned it at times, but they just don't make a habit out of it.

He further wrote:

“The 63-point chasm that’s opened up to Verstappen will likely thwart the Häkkinen parallel ending in the same conclusion – whatever Binotto [Ferrari team principal] might say (but surely not actually believe) about Ferrari winning all of the final 10 races.”

“But Leclerc should at least be offered a small morsel of comfort – which he surely won’t accept – that even the proven F1 greats can drop a whopper every now and then. They just don’t make a habit out of it.”

Charles Leclerc faces an uphill battle this season, especially if we look at the gap that Max Verstappen has built in the last few races.