Turns 16 and 17 at Hockenheim, are adjacent to the circuit's drag strip, which forms part of the run-off for cars racing on the track.

And while the smooth piece of track, which becomes treacherous in wet conditions due to poor drainage, has been there for as long as anyone can remember, Charles Leclerc claims it played a major part in his race ending crash.

"I am not convinced about the tarmac in that area of the last two corners," said the Monegasque.

"This is in no way an excuse for my mistakes and I take full responsibility," he added, "but we are in Formula 1 and this type of tarmac is just unacceptable.

"We can't have so much low grip. We've seen other drivers go off, maybe I was the only one on slicks but I was at 60kph and had absolutely no grip. There's something there."

Asked about the crash, which robbed him of potential victory, he said: "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. 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."

Leclerc's criticism aside, with Hockenheim unlikely to return to the calendar anytime soon, it is doubtful that any changes to the run-off surface would - or should be made. But at least we've got Vietnam.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Hockenheim, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Rock Doc, 29/07/2019 23:49

"I think he needs to take a few lessons from Kimi. He made the same mistake but didn’t hit the wall.

"

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2. Posted by F1 Yank, 29/07/2019 21:27

"Yakker and KLMN are right on with their quotes!! Stop your whining LeClerc, you are starting to sound like Grosjean! He complains about the track runoff contributing to his demise, but then states it was his fault? Off track is off track, especially in the rain. Perhaps it should be loose sand not gravel or a wall like KLMN put it!"

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3. Posted by yakker, 29/07/2019 18:55

"Don't blame the run off area, you should not have been on it. Do you think wet grass would be better, or a 3 mile square of tarmac with the circuit drawn on it?
"

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4. Posted by klmn, 29/07/2019 13:37

"Maybe they should put a big wall there so the stupids know where not to drive."

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Leclerc critical of tarmac at final corners

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