choosing tense in the If-clause of a mixed conditional

Question

Suppose A, B and C plan to meet at a place. A and B reach the place in time. C calls one of them to say that he'll be late, because he left just five minutes ago.

A to B:

1. A: If he had left at least half an hour ago, he would be here now!

Q: I know the above sentence is called a mixed conditional. But do native speakers use simple past tense instead of past perfect in the If-clause of such a conditional sentence where the context makes it clear that the If-clause is talking about a past counterfactual situation? Like this:

2. If he left at least half an hour ago, he would be here now! (still implying that C did not leave at the said time)

Note: Sentence (2) is not a second conditional.

Answer 1

If he had left half an hour ago ...

This means that I know for a fact that he did not leave half-an-hour ago. In other words it translates to:

If he had decided to leave half an hour ago (but he didn't) ... then he would be here.

---

If he left half an hour ago ...

This means that I allow the fact that he may have left half-an-hour ago.

If it is true that he left half an hour ago ... then he should be here. (maybe we just haven't met up with him yet)