Leclerc responds to fan criticism of Japanese GP incident

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."

View this post on Instagram

Leclerc explains why he drove on with a broken front wing in Suzuka.

A post shared by GPFans Global (@gpfansglobal) on Oct 14, 2019 at 1:12am PDT

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Lewis Hamilton says fight with F1 bosses left him 'feeling like an outcast'

• 21 minutes ago

F1 star who beat all the odds AXED as official statement confirms 2027 driver change

• 2 hours ago

Ferrari vow to deliver Hamilton and Leclerc upgrades ASAP after Baku beatdown

• 3 hours ago

Christian Horner makes U-turn over Ferrari move claims Sky F1 expert

• Today 08:58

'No toxic cookies and no politics' - Zak Brown on why top F1 stars are joining McLaren

• Today 08:14

Ferrari confirm Vasseur decision as star AXED in 2027 driver change - F1 News Today

• Today 06:55