French F1 Grand Prix leader Charles Leclerc has crashed out of the race on lap 18. It is the third time this season Leclerc has not finished a race while leading.
The Ferrari driver spun out of control at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, before slamming into the barriers and ending his hopes of a fourth F1 Grand Prix win this season.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The scream of anguish from Leclerc! 😩🔊 pic.twitter.com/8ma0P1QdBU— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 24, 2022
Soon after, the radio call between Leclerc and his Ferrari pit team was released, and it showed the raw pain and frustration from the French as he let out a scream which would be described as blood-curling were it in a horror film and not an F1 race.
Heading into today's F1 Grand Prix, Leclerc found himself in second place and 38 points behind Max Verstappen in the overall standings. However, this will be yet another blow to his championship hopes.
Ferrari looked like the strongest car early in the season, although the Monégasque's fortunes have been mixed since those opening races. While he would win in Austria last time out, this is also the third occasion that he has been forced to retire from a race this year.
The team have been criticised for a number of tactical decisions during this period, while the Ferrari engine has been causing issues for both them and other constructors on the grid.
There is still time to catch the reigning F1 World Champion Max Verstappen, but this will be yet another blow to their hopes of doing so. They will need to be far more reliable moving forward, both in terms of tactics and the car itself.
As things stand, it is difficult to look beyond the Red Bull man. We will see if that changes in the months ahead.
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