Charles Leclerc got off to a very slow start during the race in Imola, which saw him lose position to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on lap 1.
Ferrari had a nightmare weekend at Imola, in what was supposed to be a happy homecoming for them. The Italian outfit had a strong car all weekend, but luck just wasn’t on their side.
It started with Carlos Sainz’s poor qualifying session on Friday. The Spaniard started the Sprint from P10, but made amends to start the main race from fourth. In the main race however, his outing came to an end on the very first lap after Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren made contact with him.
Journalist @Giorgio_Piola phoned the @Motorsport_IT office before the start saying:
“I’m afraid that Leclerc risks a bad start. Between the front and rear axles of his Ferrari there is a stretch of asphalt that is very slippery in the rain. I almost fell, he will have no grip.”
— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) April 25, 2022
Leclerc on the other hand, started both the Sprint and main race from P2. In the latter, the Monegasque got off to a very slow start off the line under wet conditions. This was uncharacteristic of him, so many wondered what prompted him to make this mistake.
According to recent reports, this was something that was also out of the 24-year old’s control.
Also read: Nico Rosberg bashes Charles Leclerc for his unforced error in Imola that made him lose podium
Charles Leclerc was forced to encounter a ‘slippery’ start to the race
Leclerc started the race from P2, right behind Max Verstappen. When the lights went out, the former crawled off the line very slowly, which also allowed Verstappen’s teammate Perez to overtake him.
Yeah it really wasn’t going to be his day😃 pic.twitter.com/7rM68mOM14
— Madie 🏁| RACE WEEK🇮🇹 (@Madiethebadieee) April 25, 2022
Many categorized this as just another bad start, but Motorsport.com reported that it may have been to another reason altogether. The grid recently underwent some changes in it’s surface design.
The sprint race was dry, so the new asphalt was fine.
— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) April 25, 2022
The second grid slot had a bit of bitumen asphalt strip, which was put there to cover the old starting line. This slip had become more slippery when the rain poured, and Leclerc had absolutely no grip when he started the race.
Imagine if this happened to team lh. They would be saying FIA did this on purpose to hamper lewis 💀
— Divit (@BRG_Kronos) April 25, 2022
F1 fans were shocked to find out about this. Ferrari fans in particular, will be feeling like the entire universe was against them in Imola last weekend. Others fumed at the track organizers and FIA for not rectifying this problem before the race started.
Also read: F1 fans left in disbelief as Daniel Ricciardo compels Ferrari star to have another DNF in 2022
