David Coulthard remains puzzled by Charles Leclerc’s new crash at the Parabolica. The former driver believes he has identified a recurring weakness in the Monegasque despite his immense talent.
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David Coulthard has no doubt about Charles Leclerc’s talent, but the former Formula 1 driver believes the Monegasque also has a weakness that could cost him dearly. After his huge crash at the Italian Grand Prix, the Scot wonders about those rare moments when the Ferrari driver suddenly seems to make a hardly explainable mistake.
Leclerc had retired as early as the second lap at Monza after losing control of his SF-26 in the Parabolica. A particularly violent crash that caused a red flag and briefly raised concerns about his health. But one detail particularly intrigues Coulthard: Leclerc had already had a very similar crash in exactly the same spot in 2020.
A new crash at the Parabolica
Leclerc was then under pressure from Oscar Piastri when he slightly widened his line in the last corner. Two wheels went beyond the white line on the outside before his Ferrari hit a long drainage grate, which abruptly destabilized the car.
Surprised by the reaction of his SF-26, the Monegasque failed to regain control and ended his race at high speed against the barriers. The impact, measured at about 60 g, was strong enough to cause brief vision disturbances in Leclerc, who was nevertheless quickly declared fit after his visit to the medical center.
For Coulthard, the most surprising thing remains the location of the crash. The Parabolica is generally not considered one of the corners where drivers regularly lose their cars, which makes this second off-track excursion by Leclerc in the same place even more surprising.
Coulthard intrigued by this repetition
The former McLaren driver admits having difficulty understanding how Leclerc could have two such similar crashes six years apart in the same corner.
“Charles Leclerc is really, really talented since he managed to have an accident twice in the same place. I’m still trying to understand how that can happen in a corner where, normally, you don’t really crash.”
The parallel with 2020 is indeed striking. That year, Leclerc had already lost his Ferrari in the Parabolica before violently ending up in the barriers, also causing a race interruption.
“What makes him manage to make the same mistake in the same place and have practically the same accident twice?”
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“He sometimes has a kind of glitch”
Coulthard then puts forward his own theory. According to him, Leclerc’s main weakness could be linked to very rare moments during which his driving suddenly seems to malfunction, despite a generally exceptional level of performance.
“I imagine the flaw that comes with all his talent is that he sometimes experiences a kind of absence. He just has a little glitch and, at that precise moment, as hard as it is to explain with words, he completely makes a mistake.”
The Scot therefore absolutely does not question the pure speed of the Ferrari driver. He rather highlights the contrast between his ability to regularly perform at an extremely high level and certain occasional mistakes whose consequences can be particularly significant.
Leclerc has already been criticized several times for mistakes made in costly situations. Coulthard seems to consider these episodes as an occasional but persistent weakness in the Monegasque’s driving.
Two similar crashes six years apart
The former Grand Prix winner nevertheless prefers to emphasize that Leclerc emerged unscathed from his crash, despite the impressive violence of the impact.
“Fortunately, he was fine. But it was a huge crash, and managing to do that in 2020 and then again in 2026 is quite impressive.”
Leclerc himself admitted after Monza that he felt the full force of the impact. After getting out of his car, he did not feel immediately well and notably noticed that one of his eyes was not working properly for a few moments. Medical examinations, however, revealed no problem likely to prevent him from participating in the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
For Coulthard, this crash remains revealing of a surprising characteristic in the Ferrari driver: capable of producing exceptional performances and pushing the limits of his car, Leclerc sometimes experiences sudden mistakes that are particularly difficult to explain.
His crash at Monza is a spectacular example. Six years after already destroying a Ferrari in the Parabolica, Leclerc experienced practically the same scenario in the same place, a repetition that leads Coulthard to identify these rare “glitches” as the main flaw of a driver he nevertheless considers extremely talented.
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