Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has labelled the tarmac in the final two corners of the Hockenheim circuit 'unacceptable' after the Monegasque driver crashed out of the German Grand Prix.
On his first lap out of the pits on soft tyres, Leclerc had encountered a hint of oversteer heading into Turn 16. The car then ran wide on to the outside of the circuit where he had already had a small moment earlier in the race.
Despite attempting to correct his SF90, he was unable to prevent himself from sliding into the outside barrier and unable to recover from the gravel.
At Hockenheim, the final two corners are adjacent to a drag strip on a plateau, which during the inclement conditions doesn't drain and becomes extremely slippery.
"I am not convinced about the tarmac in that area of the last two corners," said Leclerc.
"This is in no way an excuse for my mistakes and I take full responsibility but we are in Formula 1 and this type of tarmac is just unacceptable."
Leclerc had been in contention for the race victory up until his incident, battling with the eventual race winner Max Verstappen and both Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
"It has been crazy and it was a big mistake on my side and I am very sorry to the team and to the fans," added the Monegasque.
"I feel sorry for them but overall I feel it was a great race until the mistake. One mistake is enough to be out of the race and it was completely my fault.
"I need to understand what happened but to be honest looking at what happened with the mistake it was tricky conditions and you very often lose the car in these conditions."
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