"What a s**t lap. Sorry guys, you deserve better." These were Charles Leclerc's words after qualifying sixth for the Dutch Grand Prix.
According to Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari's team principal, the Monegasque driver could have got fourth place on the grid if he had completed a perfect lap. And this should give the team plenty to think about...
Leclerc is the one who deserves better, not the other way around.
Now in his seventh year in red, Leclerc has proven on multiple occasions that he has become (through an extensive growth process) World Championship material.
Yet he has never had the chance to fight for the World Championship. He has never had a car and a team that were up to the task.
Let's be clear: all human beings make mistakes. No one is perfect, not even Leclerc. But it is the way one reacts to his mistakes that makes the difference.
It is not morally fair for a driver to beat himself up over a less than perfect lap in qualifying when, just a month ago, he lost the chance to win a Grand Prix solely because of an unknown drop in performance. Even today, the Tifosi don't know what happened to his car in Hungary.
Morover, frankly, what difference does it make to line up fourth on the grid - rather than sixth - in the eyes of the most successful team in history?
Ferrari have to win. If they haven't done so since 2008, when the Monegasque was barely a teenager, it is certainly not the fault of a driver who always gives 110% for the Prancing Horse he so much loves.
That driver is Charles Leclerc: a talent who deserves much more than he has received in his last seven seasons at Maranello. Someone had to set the record straight.
Read also: How Piastri turned the script upside down by getting pole position at Zandvoort
Main cover photo www.ferrari.com
