Charles Leclerc on Max Verstappen overtake: Max would have won anyway

Austrian GP

Leclerc on Verstappen overtake: Max would have won anyway

The move still wasn't right.

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 30 June 2019 18:31

Charles Leclerc believes that, although Max Verstappen would probably have eventually won the Austrian Grand Prix anyway, his overtake on him to take P1 was not right.

Verstappen, who suffered a terrible start to the race off the line which saw several drivers get beyond him, recovered to claim the flag in one of the performances of his career.

In order to win, he had to overtake pole-setter Leclerc, which he managed to do with two laps remaining. However, it was shrouded in controversy as the Dutchman aggressively went wheel-to-wheel with his rival, forcing him wide.

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The Ferrari driver believes Verstappen would have won regardless of the incident, but that doesn’t mean the move wasn’t against the rules.

"If I feel that the [first] overtake [attempt] was done rightly, I don't think the second one was,” he told Autosport.

"I believe that the end would have probably been the same anyway but it's just not the way you overtake, I think."

Verstappen previously attempted to overtake Leclerc on the previous lap, only for the leader to defend P1. The Monegasque insists he did not do anything different to the next lap when he was bettered.

"I did the same thing from the first to the second lap," Leclerc said.

"The only thing that changed from the first to the second lap was contact. And then I had to go wide, I lost quite a bit of time there.

"I did not expect any contact on the second lap. As Max said he braked a little deeper. I don't know if he lost it or not. But then there was the contact.

"I felt I was quite strong in traction on the first attempt, I managed to have a better traction and kept my position.

"On the second one I couldn't do that because I was off-track."

The overtake from Verstappen cost Leclerc his maiden victory in F1.