The truth behind Leclerc’s stuck throttle radio message

The Monegasque spun out of the lead at the Circuit Paul Ricard at the Beausset right-hander.

Leclerc was unable to reverse out of the barriers and thus was forced to retire prematurely on Lap 18.

He took the blame afterwards but many questioned the cause of the accident after his radio message afterwards.

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Leclerc said over team radio: “I cannot go on throttle,” not “I cannot go off throttle!” which was widely reported on social media.

After Leclerc’s throttle-related issue during the latter stages of the Austrian Grand Prix, it’s understandable why people were quick to link the two.

“No, first there was no issues with the throttle itself, nothing to do with Austria,” Binotto explained. “What happened is a genuine mistake of Charles which are things that may happen and I think they do not take off how good he is as a driver and as a fantastic driver. But it was a genuine mistake. 

“What you heard on the radio was about when he was in reverse gear trying to get out from the barriers, there is a strategy without going in all the details, that somehow he was on the throttle, didn't feel sufficient torque from the engine but was nothing wrong. Simply the strategy there.”

Leclerc explained that he tried to get the car back to the pit lane as it hadn’t sustained too much damage.

“I tried, but there was something with the clutch not working and I couldn’t reverse, which was a shame because I saw the car and the car was actually not too damaged,” Leclerc said.

“But, this is a detail, honestly. First of all, I need to not put cars in the wall, and then they should work better.”