Charles Leclerc: Max Verstappen overtake was not fair

Austrian GP

Leclerc: Verstappen overtake was not fair

It cost the Ferrari man the win.

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 30 June 2019 17:02

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Charles Leclerc has questioned the legality of the overtake from Max Verstappen in the latter stages of the Austrian Grand Prix which cost him the victory and handed the win to the Dutchman.

On lap 69 at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen aggressively burst beyond Leclerc after failing to do so on two previous occasions, with the cars touching slightly as the former went ahead.

The Ferrari driver had enjoyed an excellent race until that point after taking pole, but was unable to stop the assault from Verstappen, who tore through the grid after previously dropping places after an awful start.

In Leclerc’s eyes, it wasn’t a fair overtake manoeuvre.

“Overall the race was good, “ he said.

“At the end I had a bit more degredation than I thought so Max came back.

“Then, on the incident, I'll let the stewards decide. But for me, it was pretty clear in the car. I don't know how it looked like from outside.

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“I don't know, I was on the outside just like the lap before when he left the space for a car width on the exit of the corner, but he didn't on the other lap, so we touched and I had to go wide. Obviously I didn't have any chance to pass back.

“So, it's a shame.”

The overtake allowed Verstappen to retain his Austrian GP title from last year, while Leclerc still awaits his maiden GP victory in F1.