Charles Leclerc explains Spain seat belt drama

Charles Leclerc

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Leclerc explains Spain seat belt drama

Ferrari driver was forced to do up his own seat belt while on track

Ewan Gale

Thursday 27 August 2020 18:47 Updated: 21:19

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has revealed he tried to re-buckle his seat belts on track after initially preparing to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix.

Leclerc was fighting in the midfield when his power unit cut out mid-apex at the final chicane of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, forcing his Ferrari into a spin.

With the power unit switched off, Leclerc had assumed his race was finished, only for the Monegasque to eventually restart his car and get going again after loosening his seat belt.

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Explaining what appeared to be a dangerous move, Leclerc said: "I unbuckled myself once I knew that there was a problem with the engine.

"I didn't think I would go again. Then I re-did them on the way to go again on the track. I did one slow lap, to know whether the engine was working properly again or not."

For safety reasons, Formula 1 seat belts are six-point harnesses, which makes attempting to re-do them extremely difficult.

With the FIA understandably strict on the use of seat belts, Leclerc has confirmed he returned to the pits as soon as he realised he was not fully strapped in.

"On the second lap when I started to push, I realised that one of the four buckles that we have as a seat belt was not on so I told the team and I stopped straight away," added Leclerc.

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