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Leclerc responds to fan criticism of Japanese GP incident

Photo: © LAT Images

Leclerc responds to fan criticism of Japanese GP incident

He drove on with a badly damaged wing.

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Charles Leclerc has explained that he was completely unaware of the extent of damage done to his front wing in a collision with Max Verstappen at the Japanese GP.

Leclerc made contact with Verstappen on lap one at Suzuka with carbon fibre shedding on the circuit as he drove several laps with parts of his front wing dragging on the asphalt.

When it eventually failed, carbon fibre hit Lewis Hamilton's car, as evidenced by pock marks on the Mercedes' halo, while a part became lodged in Lando Norris' brakes, causing them to overheat and forcing McLaren into an unscheduled pit-stop.

Leclerc and Ferrari were punished post-race, the Monegasque receiving 15 seconds' worth of penalties for both the incident with Verstappen, and then driving with his car in an unsafe condition.

In a post-race post on Instagram, an account titled applejuice696 was critical of Leclerc, saying: "Are you gonna comment on nearly taking Lewis' head off…"

Leclerc wrote back: "The only part I could see lose [sic] from inside the car was the mirror and that’s why I was holding it down the straights to avoid losing it and hit somebody.

"All the other parts, we cant see them, I was aware I had damage on the front wing as I could feel it but I wasn’t aware I was still losing parts.

"Thanks god nobody was hurt though."

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