"Don’t sell him short" - Mario Andretti jumps to the defense of Charles Leclerc amid his recent spate of crashes

Mario Andretti has come out in support of Charles Leclerc and said that some of the dips in form suffered by the latter right now is a result of desperation more than anything else. Leclerc has not had the best of starts compared to the high standards at which drivers of his caliber are placed.

In the first five races, he's had a DNF in Bahrain due to a reliability issue. Leclerc had a crash in the first lap in Australia, a crash in Baku during qualifying, and another one in Miami.

Fortunately for Charles Leclerc, his crash in Azerbaijan came after he had completed his pole lap but the same could not be said about Miami where his race got compromised.

These incidents have put Leclerc's driving under the scanner a lot more than usual but Mario Andretti feels the Ferrari driver is supremely talented. He also warned them not to sell the talented driver.

"Don’t sell him short," Andretti told PlanetF1. "What I like about Charles is that he’s trying so hard. I think there is some issue with the equipment, no question. He’s trying to extract something out of the car that’s not there at the moment.

"That’s what it is. Don’t fault the driver at this point. The value of Charles Leclerc is huge, he’s capable. I look at him as a potential World Champion in the future with the right equipment."

"He realizes some of the mistakes himself, I guarantee it, and I’m sure he’s punishing himself every single day," he added. "He probably can’t wait to get back in the car to redeem himself. I think it’s frustration, but don’t sell Charles short, he’s got tremendous talent."

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Ferrari feels Charles Leclerc still has scope to grow

Pierro Ferrari in a recent interview with Autosprint spoke about Charles Leclerc and said that the young driver still has a lot to learn and grow. Claiming that Charles has the speed equal to Max Verstappen, Ferrari said:

“Charles has the speed to be equal to Verstappen. But he has less experience, in terms of number of GPs. Leclerc can still grow, he will grow. We have not yet seen his true full potential, we are waiting for it.”

The next race in Monaco is Leclerc's home race. With the weather expected to play a role and Ferrari having an impressive one-lap pace, the young driver will be hoping for a strong home result.