F1 fans notice a concerning detail on Oscar Piastri’s onboard footage just before Charles Leclerc’s crash.
Sharp-eyed fans think they’ve figured out why Charles Leclerc crashed at the Italian Grand Prix. The red flag came out at Monza just two laps in after Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, crashed while trying to hold fourth place against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc’s Ferrari suddenly lost grip at the back, even though the car seemed steady until the last moment of the corner. It looked like he had snap oversteer. Clips from Piastri’s onboard camera show Leclerc’s car touching a drainage grill, and many believe this caused the crash.
The 28-year-old walked away unharmed, even after his car spun into the barriers at high speed. Ralf Schumacher mentioned on Sky Germany that Leclerc’s car sounded unusual just before he lost control.
The race got off to a rough start when Leclerc irritated his own teammate, Lewis Hamilton, with Hamilton saying on team radio, “Charles pushed me off.” Then, only two laps in, the safety car was replaced by a red flag so officials could fix the barriers where Leclerc crashed — a tough situation for Ferrari at their home race.
Leclerc went to the medical center for tests and was cleared, but later said he’d have more checks just to be “better safe than sorry” before the Spanish Grand Prix next weekend. He shared, “My neck was okay, but my right eye wasn’t seeing very well at first. Now it’s fine, but that worried me the most.” He also said, “There’s some normal pain here and there after a crash like this. I’ll have a few more exams tonight and tomorrow to make sure I’m fully fine for Madrid.”
His crash also affected Hamilton, who dropped to eighth place after the incident. The race restarted shortly after 3 pm BST, but it was a tough day for Ferrari.
Some fans weren’t very sympathetic, accusing Leclerc’s supporters of reading too much into the crash. One wrote, “He was the only one to crash himself out, but you’re always making excuses.” Another added, “You can’t seriously be defending this.” But fans of Leclerc pointed to commentary suggesting the crash might have been caused by an “unexpected burst of energy.”
It’s clear there’s a lot of debate around what really happened during this dramatic race.