Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc does not “understand” drivers that try to make excuses for themselves when they make a mistake, and prefers to shoulder the responsibility himself.
The Monegasque has only really made two major mistakes so far in 2022; he collided with the wall and lost three places in Imola as he finished sixth, before crashing out of the French Grand Prix while in the lead.
After both of those incidents, he walked straight into the media pen with his head high and readily accepted that he was to blame, not the car or any external factors.
It is often said that part of being a racing driver is that nothing is ever your fault; you must find an excuse for shortcomings.
But this is an approach the five-time race winner rejects, as he will not learn anything if he pins the blame on something or someone when his mistake is patently obvious.
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“It’s part of the experience; it’s part of the path of anybody in whatever work you do – at one point, a mistake will happen,” Leclerc told BBC Sport.
“Every individual will react in a different way, this is my way of reacting to it and I’ve always felt the benefit of being honest with yourself and just grow from it.
“I really don’t see the point of hiding it, and sometimes it is so obvious to everybody that the mistake comes from driver.
“I just don’t understand the drivers that are trying to have excuses with the wind or whatsoever.
“I mean, sometimes it can happen. One out of 200 crashes, you’ll get something very strange happen.
“But I just don’t like to lose time with finding excuses, because that’s exactly when you start to you start to lose time, and you just don’t go forward.”
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The 24-year-old also suggested that taking ownership for his own errors helps to develop more trust within the rest of the Italian squad.
That way, everyone is able to learn and grow from the mistakes they make, rather than playing a perennial blame game, which helps no one.
“This is also good for the people that are that are working around me because they know that whenever I’m going to do a mistake, I’m going to be very honest and I hope that is going to be the same for them,” explained Leclerc.
“So then everybody can just learn quicker and it is the case in Ferrari.”
Sadly, Ferrari have shown few signs of learning from their mistakes this season after yet another strategic horror show on the pit wall turned what looked like a win in Budapest into a sixth-placed finish for Leclerc.
Max Verstappen went on to win the race for Red Bull from 10th on the grid, opening out an 80-point advantage over his championship rival in the Drivers’ Standings.