Nico Rosberg says Charles Leclerc’s crash was the result of Ferrari “overconfidence” in Azerbaijan GP qualifying.
The Monegasque saw his hopes of a second pole this season end in the barrier at Turn 8 in Q2, as a lock-up had big consequences into Formula 1’s narrowest corner.
But the 2016 world champion sees Leclerc as a victim despite Charles’ own self-beating, instead suggesting it was his team who put him in a difficult situation.
“Leclerc was on for a definite pole position, he was really on it all weekend,” Rosberg said in a YouTube vlog.
“I don’t blame it on him, I blame it on the team because in Q2 they decided they were going to be even smarter and put on the medium tyre, the harder tyre.
“They thought if they start the race with the harder tyre, that would give them even more benefits because they were so fast. It was just overconfidence.
“It just went completely pear-shaped for them from that moment on.”
More frustratingly for Leclerc, his initial best time in Q2 on the medium compound was fast enough to make the top 10, rendering the lap on which he crashed as pointless.
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Even so, Rosberg was left totally perplexed by Ferrari’s approach.
“I was sitting on the sofa shaking my head like, ‘What are they doing now?! Not on a street circuit, don’t mess about like that, the drivers need rhythm and everything’,” he explained.
“Sure thing what happened afterwards, Leclerc was in the wall with his medium tyres locking up because of lack of grip.
“Sebastian Vettel was nearly in the wall as well, he had a big moment there. For me they just completely threw it away and that’s terrible.
“It was really disappointing. All of us want to see Ferrari do a comeback to really push Mercedes to the limit.”
With Leclerc out of the running, it cleared the way for Mercedes to again capitalise as they locked out the front row for the third time this season.
