From smiles to tears.
The day after a pole position acquired with style and with the invaluable help of his teammate Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc saw the victory fly away this Sunday at the Grand Prix de France.
Off to a good start in the stifling heat of Le Castellet, the Monegasque seemed to have taken a few steps ahead of Max Verstappen, to the delight of a Paul-Ricard circuit which was running as much for him as for the two Frenchmen in the paddock, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
To discover
Formula 1: the calendar for the 2022 season
Formula 1: manufacturers' classification
Formula 1: drivers classification
But the Monegasque has lost everything.
All alone.
Spinning off at the Beausset bend, in the last sector of the route, the Ferrari driver, furious on the radio, first mentioned a problem with the accelerator (as in Austria, where he had nevertheless been able to spin towards the wins) before making his self-criticism.
"It's a personal mistake and it's not the first time"
, he assured, before expanding the reasons for this fiasco to the difficult conditions of a race disputed under a blazing sun (55 ° C on the track):
“I had funny feelings with the car all weekend.
It was hard to be consistent in the heat and I paid dearly for that mistake
.
»
Twenty-five points in this case, all in the bagatelle of Max Verstappen, quiet winner of his seventh race of the season ahead of the surprising Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (2nd) and George Russell (3rd).
Read also
Leclerc: “I paid dearly for my mistake”
Ecstatic after his pole on Saturday, the Monegasque looked cold, almost livid on Sunday, facing the media.
"I feel like I've been at the highest level of my career since the start of the season, but there's no point in performing at this level if it's to lose so many points
," complained a now relegated Leclerc. 63 points behind their Dutch rival.
A hole.
“If we are missing around thirty points at the end of the year, I know they will come from me
,” continued the Scuderia Ferrari driver, whose strategic errors have also been costly since the start of the season.
But "Carletto" does not admit defeat.
Not yet:
“I will continue to believe in it until the end, we will do the accounts at the end.”
Because if the reliability of the Ferrari F1-75 sometimes leaves something to be desired, its pace suggests great possibilities, as evidenced by the crazy rise of Carlos Sainz from 19th to 5th place at Le Castellet this Sunday.
“I think we had the rhythm to go and play for the win
,” agreed coldly the second in the championship, already turned to the Hungarian Grand Prix, rarely favorable to Verstappen, in a week.
No Marseillaise on the Castellet circuit
But Leclerc, who has never triumphed "at home", neither in Monte-Carlo nor at Le Castellet, where each of his passages aroused his share of noisy encouragement, will not win what looked like the last dance of Paul-Ricard before a couple of years or more.
The French Grand Prix contract with the Formula 1 promoter ended on Sunday and the future of the self-proclaimed 'Summer Race' is more uncertain than ever.
Esteban Ocon (8th) and Pierre Gasly (12th) will therefore wait a little longer to dream of a triumph at home.
Never in the game after failed qualifying, the two French drivers on the circuit could not live up to the enthusiasm around the track, which increased tenfold in the two stands bearing their names, in chicane 2 for the driver Alpha Tauri and at the Pont bend for the Alpine bend.
Read also
Formula 1: threatened, the Grand Prix de France "is not dead", reassures its director Eric Boullier
Heard for the last time in 1993 with Alain Prost, the
Marseillaise
will wait to resound again in France, in any case officially.
Because on Sunday morning, the great hope Théo Pourchaire, 2nd in the F2 race, took care (unofficially) of having his ranges revised for the entire main stand.
To better prepare for the future?
French GP classification: 1. Verstappen (Red Bull);
2. Hamilton (Mercedes) at 10''587;
3. Russell (Mercedes) 16''495;
4. Pérez (Red Bull) 17''310;
Sainz (Ferrari) 28''872;
6. Alonso (Alpine) 42''879;
7. Norris (McLaren) 52''026;
8. Ocon (Alpine) 56''959;
9. Ricciardo (McLaren) 1'00”372;
10. Stroll (Aston Martin) 1' 02”549…
Drivers classification: 1. Verstappen 233 pts;
2.Leclerc 170;
3. Pérez 163;
3. Sainz 144;
5.Russell 143;
6.Hamilton 127;
7. Norris 70;
8. Ocon 56… 13. Gasly 16…