By Alan Baldwin
Charles Leclerc found support among rivals on Saturday after securing pole position for his home Monaco Grand Prix with a last-minute crash that brought qualifying to a close.
Any suspicion that the red flag prang might have been deliberate to prevent others beating his lap time was given short shrift.
"Surely if I was doing it on purpose I would make sure to hit the wall a bit less hard but that wasn’t on purpose, obviously," Leclerc, who expressed concern about a grid penalty if the gearbox needed changing, told reporters.
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"I was pushing the limit and, for now, I’m just worried about the rear of the car. I hope it’s OK. It doesn’t look OK but let’s wait and see.
Not how Charles Leclerc would have expected to take his eighth pole position 😱#MonacoGP 🇲![CDATA[]]>🇨 #F1 pic.twitter.com/1Dq2Sg4Y7Q
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2021
"On a city track like this, where we are pushing the limit, it happens to do a mistake. It’s a different story when it’s done on purpose but I think it’s pretty obvious for today," added the Monegasque.
That the question should even be raised owes much to history at a tight and twisty circuit where grid position is of critical importance, with overtaking extremely difficult.
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In 2006, seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher blotted his copybook by locking up at Rascasse, blocking the track and preventing Renault's Fernando Alonso from taking pole from him.
Jump onboard with @Charles_Leclerc for the lap that put him on pole for his home Grand Prix 🎥#MonacoGP 🇲![CDATA[]]>🇨 #F1 @pirellisport pic.twitter.com/Sa1YjPBINO
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2021
The great German was subsequently demoted to the back of the field as a punishment for what stewards deemed had been a deliberate act.
"I think there is a difference when a guy makes a mistake and hits the wall, or doing it intentionally," said Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who qualified in second place.
"I think had Charles just parked with a broken front wing, it’s a different story. But of course he just clipped the wall, initially, and then ended up where I’ve ended up twice.
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"It’s not so easy around here, especially on the limit. It’s easy to make a mistake."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, whose championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh, agreed.
"That was a proper impact," he said.
"Such a crash could put you in real jeopardy if the gearbox is broken... it was a real impact."
Reuters