Verstappen defends Charles Leclerc after his mistake at Imola
At the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the podium narrowly escaped Charles Leclerc following a mistake from the Monegasque. According to Max Verstappen, this error was "easy to make".
Second in the sprint race and second on the starting grid, Charles Leclerc seemed well positioned in this Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with a podium in sight. While the Monegasque found himself behind Sergio Perez’s RB18 for a good part of the race, he was gradually closing in.
However, by trying too hard, the Ferrari driver made a mistake. Going a little too quickly over the kerbs of Variante Atla, Leclerc went straight into the opposite wall, spinning around. In the end, Charles Leclerc managed to salvage a few points in this particularly difficult weekend for the Scuderia.
The winner of the Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, defended the Monégasque driver, stating that his mistake was easy to make on a track that was getting drier.
“(D) It’s painful, he was attacking hard to try to fight with Checo,” the Dutchman said. “(D) I think he knows it himself, he doesn’t need to hear it from someone else. But it’s still a very long championship. You can still score a lot of points. Of course, it’s not great [for Leclerc], but you can’t change anything now. He didn’t do it on purpose,” Max Verstappen concluded.
The Monégasque remains in first place in the drivers’ standings with a twenty-seven point lead over Max Verstappen. With his very powerful car, Charles Leclerc has the opportunity to score many points this season.
