F1: Leclerc has caught the Ferrari-Choke disease

Jacques Villeneuve believes Charles Leclerc’s latest error in Japan was typical of the blunders that have killed Ferrari’s once promising season.

Even though it would have merely delayed the inevitable, Leclerc had the chance to take the World Championship chase on to the United States Grand Prix when he looked all set to finish second to Max Verstappen in Japan.

But in the face of sustained pressure from Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, Leclerc choked.

He missed the final chicane on the final lap and was handed a five-second penalty for cutting the chicane, losing 2nd place and handing the title to Max Verstappen on a silver platter.

Leclerc lost points with mistakes at Imola, Paul Ricard and now Suzuka which mean the title race is done and dusted with four rounds to spare.

Villeneuve thinks Ferrari’s blunders have rubbed off on Leclerc, his biggest choke having been when he crashed out while leading the French Grand Prix.

“The championship for Max Verstappen is obviously well deserved,” said the Canadian in his post-race column for Formule1.nl.

“Except for the first three races, Red Bull have been almost perfect. Ferrari collapsed after that, the team went wrong far too often, which also increased the pressure on Charles.

“He also started making mistakes and the question will always remain ‘would that have happened without the team’s blunders?’

“His mistake when leading at Paul Ricard was ultimately crucial to the championship. And in Japan, it happened again in the final corner.”