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Villeneuve judges harshly: I can't feel sorry for him

Villeneuve judges harshly: "I can't feel sorry for him"

25-05-2021 13:29 Last update: 15:01
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GPblog.com

Jacques Villeneuve is known for his strong opinion about Formula 1 and its drivers. This time Charles Leclerc has to pay the price. He could not start in his home race after his car was damaged in a crash in qualifying, but Villeneuve says he does not feel sorry for the Monegasque.

Leclerc owes his DNS to himself'

Ferrari said the damage was not caused by the crash, but that story is in doubt. Villeneuve is very harsh in his judgement: "Leclerc can't blame anyone but himself for this", the Canadian says. "He flew into the wall on Saturday, so I can't feel sorry for him."

However, he does understand why Ferrari took the risk of not changing the gearbox. "The car could have made it to the grid, you can take that risk because you start from pole position in Monaco. That was a gamble, but a gamble worth taking," the 1997 world champion continued.

"The surprising thing was that in the end, it was not the gearbox that broke, but there was a problem on the left side of the car," Villeneuve said. Mattia Binotto eventually admitted that the faulty part was not checked after the crash because it was on the other side of the car, where the biggest impact had taken place.