'Unacceptable mistake!' - Leclerc takes blame for disastrous crash

Charles Leclerc accepted responsibility for making the "unacceptable mistake" that saw him crash out from the lead of the French GP and says his speed is "pointless" if he keeps making errors.

Leclerc saw off extreme early pressure from Max Verstappen to put himself in a strong position to claim a second successive victory, before losing control of his Ferrari on lap 18, leaving the Red Bull to cruise to a win that extended his world championship lead to 63 points.

The incident was the latest in a growing list of occasions when Ferrari have thrown away points this season, with reliability issues having forced the Monegasque to retire from the lead in Barcelona and Baku, while Leclerc also lost points because of a driver error at the Emilia-Romagna GP in April.

Asked what happened, Leclerc said: "A mistake, a mistake. I've been saying I think I'm performing at my highest level in my career but if I keep doing those mistakes then it's pointless to perform at a very high level.

"I'm losing too many points - seven in Imola, 25 here - because honestly we probably were the strongest car on track today. So, if we lose the championship by 32 points, at the end of the season I will know from where they are coming from.

"It's unacceptable, I just need to get on top of those things."

Leclerc had explained before the race that the track and conditions at the Paul Ricard Circuit did not suit his driving style, but had still found the speed to beat Verstappen to pole in qualifying on Saturday.

There was plenty of speculation before the race that Red Bull's superior straight-line speed would give Verstappen the edge on Sunday, but Leclerc had shown brilliant race-craft to fend off his rival in the opening stages.

The fact he had