Leclerc slams German GP drag strip run-off

Charles Leclerc has held his hands up for crashing out of the German Grand Prix while criticising the drag strip tarmac used as run-off around the final two corners where he slipped off in wet conditions.

Having gambled in the switch to slick tyres during the race, Leclerc became a victim to the ice-like run-off area on the outside of the final two corners created around Hockenheim’s drag strip tarmac which became extra slippery in wet conditions.

Leclerc felt he wasn’t pushing “stupidly” with slick tyres on a drying track but was powerless to avoid crashing out as soon as he slipped on to the run-off area.

“I am not convinced about the tarmac in that area of the last two corners. This is in no way an excuse of my mistakes and I take the full responsibility but we are in Formula 1 and this type of tarmac is just unacceptable,” Leclerc said.

“It was tricky but it wasn’t like I was going stupidly quick out of the track it was a small snap and I had to try to get it back but I couldn’t when I arrived on the track surface.”

A number of F1 drivers suffered a similar fate to Leclerc, with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg also crashing out of the race on the slippery tarmac while Lewis Hamilton broke his front wing in an off with Carlos Sainz and Kimi Raikkonen also suffering incidents at the same spot.

“The problem there is if you go off you end up on the drag strip and it’s almost like ice because it’s full of rubber, there’s zero grip,” Raikkonen explained.

“I managed to figure it out. I was looking at that during this morning’s drivers’ parade – in the dry there’s a lot of grip but nothing in the wet. I got sideways and tried to slow down but I got nothing like the grip I was hoping for.”