"Lucky, like Hamilton" - Red Bull's Helmut Marko calls Charles Leclerc 'unbelievable' after crashing and continuing at 2022 F1 Imola GP

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes Charles Leclerc was very lucky to continue his race despite his crash at the Imola GP.

The Austrian felt the Ferrari driver was nervous as he was seen spinning in a similar way during free practice on Friday.

After the race, Leclerc blamed himself entirely and lamented the loss of valuable points.

As reported by Motorsport Network, here's what Marko had to say about Leclerc’s spin:

"[The nerves] were already there on Friday in practice when he spun – but lucky, like Hamilton, unbelievable. He hits the ground and is able to continue. But that’s all right."

Leclerc was running third and chasing Sergio Perez for second place when he spun into the barriers.

He was able to rejoin the race but had to pit to change his front wing, which was damaged in the crash.

Lucky enough not to carry significant damage, Leclerc finished within points in sixth place but far from the podium, which was a guarantee.

Describing his performance after the Imola race, Charles Leclerc said:

"I am disappointed, disappointed in myself, I tried much obviously. There was an opportunity with Checo on that lap, I thought I obviously wanted to give it all. I gave it all in turn 14 and 15 and gave so much and I finished in the wall. So instead of the third pace we lose seven potential points that will be important at the end of the season."

"And yeah today was my full responsibility. So I am disappointed, I will look what I have done wrong on that particular lap. The car jumped in a strange way but this is no excuse. This is just because I tried to put too much speed and I lost the car. So disappointing."

The Imola GP result gave Max Verstappen an advantage in closing the gap in the driver’s standings.

Before the Imola race, Leclerc had a 48-point lead over the Dutchman in the championship.

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Charles Leclerc believes Red Bull were very strong in Imola

Charles Leclerc believes Red Bull were strong throughout their weekend at the Imola circuit. The championship leader feels Ferrari need to introspect and understand the pace deficit to find ways to counter their rivals in the upcoming races.

Commenting on Red Bull’s form throughout the weekend, the Monegasque driver said:

“Yes they are very strong, they were stronger than us throughout the weekend so we need to understand that. We need to react and today third place was the best we could do and we should have been third and I haven’t been.”

In the driver’s standings, the Ferrari driver is only 29 points ahead of the reigning champion. Meanwhile, in the constructor’s standings, Red Bull are 11 points behind Ferrari.

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