The Monegasque driver was pushing hard towards the end of the Imola race to try to overtake second-placed Sergio Pérez, when he was too aggressive going through the kerbs of the Variante Alta chicane and ended up spinning.
Light touch against the barriers forced Ferrari to change its front wing in the pits, and losing time only allowed it to finish sixth having dropped to tenth.
Charles Leclerc has been very hard on himself for making mistakes in the past, and he assures that this time it will be no different. He is clear that he has learned his lesson and is confident that these problems will not be repeated.
When asked if this would be another example of his ability to never make the same mistake twice, he replied, “Yes, but maybe this one is a little different.”
“It’s one of those mistakes where it’s a little bit more about the mental focus that you’ve had at that particular point in the race.
“But I’ve always been good at knowing exactly what particular feeling I felt at what point in the race, and I know how to correct it. So yeah, it’s another mistake, but I’ll learn from it and not do it again.”
While admitting the Emilia Romagna GP was a driver error, Leclerc insists the error had nothing to do with him collapsing under pressure.
“Obviously we feel pressure not only in every race, but throughout every week and I don’t think I’ve made many mistakes before.
“It was a mistake that cost me a lot and I’m going to learn from it. But no, for my part, I didn’t feel any particular added pressure.”
Although he ended up losing three positions, Leclerc is aware that things could have been much worse in terms of bleeding points against race winner Max Verstappen.
“With the mistake I was actually a bit lucky, because I only lost seven points that I could have added,” he said, certainly relieved.
“Although it’s seven points that could be valuable at the end of the season and every point counts when you’re fighting for the title. So yeah, it won’t happen again.”
