In the latest round of social media banter, a fan endeavoured to find out if a plane can take off on the run-off area on the exit of Turn 11 in Le Castellet, but did they succeed?
First of all, some context. Charles Leclerc had brilliantly taken pole position for the French Grand Prix in July, and he got off to a great start on Saturday as he held off the threat of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque had seen his title rival pit for a fresh set of tyres, but had stayed out a few laps later to ensure fresher rubber for himself.
With a 10-second gap back to the Mercedes of Sir Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc was traversing Turn 11 when he suffered a minor lapse of concentration.
READ: ‘This is my way of reacting’: Charles Leclerc opens up on costly mistakes
In that moment, he lost the back end, and that was all she wrote as he went spinning into the barrier on the exit, bringing about an early end to his race.
Verstappen went on to win by a comfortable margin from Hamilton, while George Russell secured Mercedes’ first double podium of the season in third.
The 24-year-old had passed Sergio Perez for the final spot on the rostrum, while the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz finished fifth after starting from the back due to engine penalties.
The Scuderia’s afternoon was made even worse when the Spaniard was given a five-second penalty for an unsafe release, denying him a chance at getting onto the podium.
Upon seeing Leclerc’s crash, a fan on Twitter theorised that there is so much run-off at Paul Ricard that crashing into the wall should be impossible.
Therefore, they suggested there is enough room to get the wheels of a plane up and over the barrier in time.
“I still cannot believe Leclerc crashed out in France of all places. You could lift a plane with the amount of run off that track has,” they joked.
“Do you know why we never get Safety cars in France? It’s cause nobody does that ****.”
The latest instalment of ‘how is Twitter free?’ now features a flight simulator player going onto the game and seeing if they would get the plane up on the exit of the Beausset corner before hitting the wall.
READ: Charles Leclerc insists he’s not ‘hiding’ from his mistakes
As it turns out, “you can,” as they posted a video just under three hours later confirming that a plane can indeed get its wheels up on the exit of Turn 11.
A poor strategy call from Ferrari cost Leclerc the win in Budapest a week later, and he finished sixth as Verstappen sealed his eighth win of the season to go 80 points clear in the lead of the championship.