‘Less bulls**t’: F1 boss’ Merc swipe; Ferrari blames ‘nonsensical’ quirk for shock call — Pit Talk

July 28, 2022 Europe Sports

There’s only one story in Formula 1 this week, and it’s Charles Leclerc’s enormous own goal at the French Grand Prix to deal himself a massive blow in the championship race.

It was an uncharacteristic error for a driver who’s been largely clean and mostly error-free this year — his unforced error at Imola aside — while his team has been mired in strategy missteps and chronic unreliability.

Indeed it struck as so unusual that some struggle to believe it really happened. There’s been a conspiracy circuited by some high-profile media pundits in the aftermath of the race that Leclerc’s profuse apologies have been to protect his team from criticism for yet more mechanical dramas.

It’s forced Ferrari to defend itself on a new front after being strung up for mishandling Carlos Sainz’s strategy at the end of the race.