Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc believes his battle with Max Verstappen during the Bahrain Grand Prix was enjoyable. The Monegasque race winner felt his battle with the Dutch champion was hard racing but fair.
Describing the battle with Verstappen, Leclerc said:
“It was nice though, it was on the limit, it was hard racing. But we would always give each other space, which was nice. And following him into turn 2 was a bit more predictable, what I expected from what I had last year. So this was good. But it was always very close, I would always try and brake very early into Turn 1 to get the DRS for Turn 4 and it worked out three times in a row. So I could keep my lead.”
The battle kept the audience on the edge of their seats until it tragically ended for the reigning champion with a retirement.
The duo passed each other six times during the race before the Monegasque prevailed. Charles Leclerc revealed that braking early into the corners gave him an edge over Max Verstappen in the DRS zone. The Ferrari race winner reckons the strategic braking helped him retain his lead perfectly thrice as he was entangled in a nail-biting battle with the Dutchman.
Carlos Sainz believes it had not been for Max Verstappen’s retirement he would have had a tough battle
Second-placed finisher of the Bahrain GP, Carlos Sainz, believes Max Verstappen had some exceptional top speed and drove well throughout the weekend. Despite the opportunity to overtake towards the end, the Spaniard believes it would have been tricky to make the move on the Dutch champion, who had some exceptional defensive race-craft at his disposal.
On being asked if he could have overtaken the Dutchman, provided he had the opportunity, Sainz said:
“It could have been very tricky but I had a run at him in Turn 1, but they (Red Bull) seemed to have very good top speed and I never really quite got ahead of him. But I gave it my best shot and he defended very well, to be fair and it was going to be tight, because I was on the limit of the DRS zone. I think if I would have got the DRS then I could have given him a run. And then started to face the problems like we saw and in that case I could have been lucky that I could pass him and finish. But he’s been driving so very well all weekend it’s tough to see.”
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According to the Spaniard, he was lucky enough to pass the reigning champion towards the end of the race. Given that Max Verstappen was driving at a competitive level all weekend, Carlos Sainz found it difficult to watch him retire with technical problems.
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