Leclerc stressed Ferrari’s battle with McLaren and the importance of optimizing the points rather than risking a crash with Hamilton
By Sahil Gupta
| Updated: 19-Jul-21 02:42 PM IST
0 Views
View photos
Leclerc lost the lead in the race on lap 50 when Hamilton overtook him at Copse
Ferrari’s F1 driver Charles Leclerc has announced that he feared an accident on the hyper-fast Silverstone Grove corner when Hamilton chased him at breakneck speed in the British GP. Hamilton had crashed with Max Verstappen at the beginning of the race and had given him a 10-second time penalty. Leclerc admitted he feared a similar fall with the 7-time world champion going far
“Honestly, yes, I saw a bit of the remake of the first lap that I was the first spectator behind these two,” Leclerc told Sky Italy after his first podium since the 2020 British Grand Prix. I didn’t want to take any chances, because we’re not obviously fighting Lewis for the championship. I tried to stay in front, the only thing that was a bit wrong was that I took a snapshot of the rear at the end of the corner and that got me off the track, “said the Ferrari driver, who was his best result of the year.
Leclerc led most of the race and was one of the best drivers on the show
Hamilton chased Leclerc on the hard tires at a stormy pace over the last 10 laps of the race. After the end of the race, many criticized Hamilton for its excessive celebrations, especially Red Bull members, including team boss Christian Horner, who called for the world champion to be banned from racing. Even Verstappen, who ended up in the hospital after the crash, claimed the celebrations were unsportsmanlike and found Hamilton’s sentence too lenient.
Leclerc’s Ferrari was able to secure the lead in the race after the Hamilton and Verstappen accident and in the first stint the red car was able to keep Hamilton’s Mercedes in check. But it was in the second stint, after Hamilton served his 10-second penalty, the real pace of the Mercedes showed when he managed to overtake Lando Norris quite easily, and then his team-mate Valtteri Bottas let him through to P2, the very impressive Ferrari.
0 comments
Highlighting Ferrari’s battle with McLaren, Leclerc emphasized the importance of tweaking the points rather than risking a crash with an attacking world champion who was desperate to win his home race.
Lewis Hamilton won his 8th British GP, overtaking Leclerc on the penultimate lap of the race
Image credit: AFP
Follow carandbike.com on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest car news and reviews.
The post Leclerc feared the same fate as Verstappen when Hamilton approached him first appeared on monter-une-startup.
