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David Coulthard feels Charles Leclerc’s mistakes make Mattia Binotto’s job harder as the team boss at Ferrari. The former F1 driver feels that the Monegasque driver is extremely talented but his mistakes are his biggest weakness.
Speaking to Channel 4 after the 2022 F1 French GP, Coulthard said:
“I think he [Binotto] does a fantastic job of keeping calm on the exterior, but I’ve to imagine the pressure must be immense back in Italy, senior people within the board that are removed from the front line, they must be pulling their hair out. We’ve got to feel for Charles, a brilliant young man, a brilliant racing driver. But his Achilles Heel is his mistakes.”
According to the former F1 driver, Binotto will be under pressure from the Ferrari board in Italy if another championship walks out of their hands. Coulthard added that Charles Leclerc’s mistakes don’t make the job any easier for the Italian.
The Scotsman hailed the Monegasque driver as a promising talent on the grid but felt driving errors cost him too much. His words were similar to Mika Hakkinen’s who felt the pressure of fighting Max Verstappen might have gotten to the driver and his team, who have made strategic errors and had reliability issues.
Nico Hulkenberg feels Charles Leclerc is protecting Ferrari
Joining Nico Rosberg in his suspicions, Nico Hulkenberg felt Charles Leclerc’s crash at the 2022 F1 French GP was strange. Similar to his compatriot, he felt Leclerc was taking the blame for the crash to protect Ferrari. There has been speculation that the Monegasque driver’s crash could have been the result of a throttle issue, similar to the one in Austria.
Speaking on Servus TV as a pundit, Hulkenberg commented on the Ferrari driver's crash and said:
“It was a bit strange. Maybe he also wants to protect Ferrari.”
Commenting on Carlos Sainz’s odd pitstop strategy, the Aston Martin reserve driver said:
“It’s not rocket science. Even us on the outside and even Carlos in the cockpit could see it was a mistake.”
The Spanish driver had also covered up for Ferrari and felt the team had a better idea of a more viable strategy. Hulkenberg, however, felt it was an obvious strategic error by the team that was not complicated to comprehend for the driver or anyone outside the car either.
