Leclerc and Verstappen Reflect on Singapore GP Opening Lap Battle

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen have shared their perspectives on the opening lap incident at the Singapore Grand Prix, where the Ferrari driver secured a superior launch but ultimately failed to overtake his Red Bull rival.

Starting from the “dirty” side of the grid—which was less dusty than usual due to the previous day’s rainfall—Leclerc quickly positioned his car alongside Verstappen’s within seconds of the race beginning.

The four-time world champion steered his car toward the inside line, causing Leclerc’s front wheels to briefly cross the white boundary line. Braking earlier than his opponent, Leclerc found Verstappen able to maintain the lead from the outside.

“You don’t have much time to think in those moments,” Leclerc explained. “I saw that Max had a bit of a difficult start. I had a good launch, so I went alongside him. Then there wasn’t much space anymore, but I would have done exactly the same.”

“It’s quite tricky when you’re on the left, slightly behind, and can’t see the reference points on the right—you lose your usual braking markers. I tried to judge it as best I could, but Max managed to hold onto first place.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images

That determined yet fair driving approach ultimately paved the way for Verstappen’s victory. “I was only here to win, so I had to do everything I could to make it very difficult for Charles to carry speed into the corner,” Verstappen explained. “That was the only way to prevent him from taking the lead.”

“Fortunately, he’s a very experienced driver, and we kept it clean. It was actually really nice, I think. It’s always very hard to judge the right braking point, but I think it just worked out.”

The Red Bull driver also addressed the technical issue that contributed to his subpar start.

“The start was critical, so that was just good enough,” he commented. “Something wasn’t particularly right at the start, so I need to understand what went wrong there. Before releasing the clutch, it didn’t feel good. But it was just good enough.”

When pressed about his series of imperfect starts—including losing the lead from pole position during the sprint—Verstappen added: “I need to understand what went on with the engine before dropping the clutch, because I think that affected my start. So I just need to figure out what went wrong because it wasn’t fantastic, you can say that.”

Verstappen eventually claimed victory by seven seconds, and Leclerc acknowledged that his rival’s team simply had the pace advantage: “Eventually, they just had too much pace for us.”

Nevertheless, Leclerc’s second-place finish marked his joint second-best result of the season—a solid outcome despite the circumstances.

Source link