“Not leave the pits behind Charles Leclerc”: Helmut Marko roasts Ferrari star after crashing in qualifying of the Miami GP

Charles Leclerc's final qualifying lap crash was a subject of sarcasm for Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko, mentioning how it ruined Max Verstappen's chances of starting the race at the front of the grid.

After Leclerc's crash, the session had only 1:36 minutes remaining on the clock, not enough time for anyone to set another outlap before the checkered flag came out. Hence, the red flag was accompanied by the message that the session will not be starting again.

This left most of the drivers without a final hotlap, including Max Verstappen, who qualified only P9, two places behind Charles Leclerc. This made Marko feel that Verstappen was 'unlucky.' Marko said:

"Max was extremely unlucky. If we had sent him out earlier, he would’ve certainly been on the first two rows. Sarcastically speaking, we understood that we must not leave the pits behind Charles Leclerc."

While Charles Leclerc will be starting the race P7 after the incident, his teammate in the other Ferrari will be on the second row at P3. This might be a good starting position for Carlos Sainz, but as he mentioned during a post-qualifying interview, he's afraid that Red Bull will be able to dominate the race without any issues.

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How did Charles Leclerc crash on his final flying lap in Miami?

The Miami International Autodrome has some of the trickiest corners for drivers to take. The first practice session this year was evidence of the same as Sergio Perez was seen struggling with the braking points on the track.

However, something that drivers had to struggle more with was the turn 6, 7, and 8 sections. The slow left-handers are taken while slowing down from around 220 kph to around 130 kph by the drivers. The trickier part is the best racing line and the selection of gears for the same.

Ironically enough, Max Verstappen had made two continuous errors on his previous flying lap at the exact same place, abandoning those laps and not setting a proper laptime.

What happened with Charles Leclerc was, however, not exactly while taking the corner. At turn 6, while entering the corner, he rode the left-hander kerb, making his Ferrari bounce, losing traction, and ultimately, hitting the wall.

Interestingly, Leclerc had a similar crash during FP2 on Friday, hitting the same wall face-first at the time. Pierre Gasly, too, had a tough time on the same corner in FP1.

Charles Leclerc was disappointed with the crash as he mentioned that "it is not acceptable" for him to crash two days straight on the same corner. There will be a lot of work for him during the race, defending from the double world champion behind him while making places up front. On the contrary, it might turn out to be a better day for Carlos Sainz, who put his Ferrari at P3 at the right time.