Race Weekend Central

Charles Leclerc Crashes Out From Lead in French Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc started on the pole of the Grand Prix De France in 2022 and spent the early stage of the race holding off points leader Max Verstappen.

Then, after 18 laps, disaster struck.

Leclerc spun out entering turn 11 and hit the barriers. It’s rare to see cars hit the barriers in the run-off heavy Paul Ricard Circuit, which was designed as a test circuit with plenty of tarmac between the surface and the walls. Leclerc exited the car safely and walked back to the paddock.

Although there was a concern that perhaps it was a tire going down due to issues earlier in the weekend, it ended up being a different issue per the driver.

“I had a hung throttle!” Leclerc screamed to his engineers over the radio in the immediate aftermath of the wreck. “No!”

This is not the first time Leclerc’s Ferrari has had throttle issues. At the last F1 race at Austria, Leclerc dramatically held off Verstappen for the win in spite of throttle issues. This time, the throttle issues appeared mid-race.

Leclerc’s wreck took him out of the points for this race and has opened the door for Verstappen to increase his 38-point lead on the Monegasque driver. The Ferrari stable still has one horse – Carlos Sainz – in the running as of press time.

Editor’s note: Sainz would end up finishing fifth in the race, while Verstappen would increase his lead over Leclerc to 63-points following his win in the race.

See also
Max Verstappen Wins 2022 French Grand Prix, Extends Points Lead

About the author

Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021. He moved on to Formula 1, IndyCar, and SRX coverage for the site, while still putting a toe in the water from time-to-time back into the NASCAR pool.

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