The Ferrari driver qualified third in Barcelona and was right behind Bottas after the start when they came out of the first corner.
However, he took the great opportunity to walk around Turn 3 outside of Bottas, reminiscent of a similar effort Fernando Alonso made against Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton in 2013.
But instead of Leclerc planning his maneuver in advance, Leclerc said it was a spontaneous thing after going far out to find some clear air.
“It wasn’t planned,” said Leclerc.
“I just saw the opportunity when I was in the car and I just chose it. It seemed to be working fine.
“I tried to find a line other than Valtteri because Valtteri followed Lewis.
“And when you’re obviously behind the car, you’re losing so much downforce that I just tried to go offline.
“As soon as I saw that I had a lot of grip on the outside, I just went to overtake and it worked out pretty well.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Leclerc also revealed to Sky TV that he had never seen the Alonso before when he saw previous Spanish general practitioners, so didn’t know it had happened before.
“Everyone tells me [about] But actually I don’t even know what you’re talking about, ”he said. “I’ve never seen this overtake before.
“Was it for him in the beginning too? Because I think during the race it’s a lot harder to be honest with all the marbles outside.
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“So I decided on the simple solution in round one.”
Bottas himself said he was caught by Hamilton and Max Verstappen fighting in front of him and failed to notice that Leclerc was going for the pass.
“To be honest, I didn’t see Charles at Turn 3,” said the Mercedes driver.
“When I saw him it was much faster outside than I was, then it was too late. So, yeah, I need to check this out.
“There is only one line on Turn 1, 2 and there is not much you can do. I knew I could keep my place there.
“But then at Turn 3 I really tried to follow Lewis closely from the inside and had no chance Charles was that close.
“He managed to get a good grip and line from the outside.”
Leclerc stayed in third place during the opening stint, but came home fourth after Bottas jumped him and took the final podium during the pit stop phase.
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