Leclerc and Perez collided: This is how the Monegasque saw the crash happen!
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Suddenly, huge boos rose. Charles Leclerc had come to the microphone immediately after the Mexican Grand Prix to share his initial thoughts on his third-place finish, but the Monegasque could barely be heard through the cheering. Apparently, the Mexican crowd thought Leclerc was to blame for the elimination of their hero Sergio Perez, who slid over the Ferrari and into the gravel with his Red Bull at the very first corner.
Although analysts like Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button put the blame for the collision entirely on Perez, the protagonist himself considered it a racing incident. Charles Leclerc, who was thus able to continue his way and eventually finished on the podium, concurred.
"I think exactly the same. I mean, I had nowhere to go. I tried to stay on the right as much as possible, as close as I could to Max. But unfortunately, there was no space anymore for me to be any more to the right. I think Checo was probably not aware that I had Max on my right and started to turn in. And when I saw that, I knew that we would collide at one point, which we did. And after that, I was extremely surprised that I could finish the race anyway," Leclerc said.
Leclerc wants improvement from Ferrari in '24
Indeed, his drive thus ended in third place, behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. That final ranking could be seen as an absolute setback, as the Monegasque had started the race from pole. Yet during the race, his Ferrari lacked the speed to make things difficult for the Dutchman and Briton.
Satisfied though Leclerc was: "Very pleased is not the word, because I mean, yesterday was again, a really good day, a really good Saturday. Really good pace in qualifying, but then we don't quite have the car to win races on Sunday. So, that's where we are going to try and put all our effort into for next year, in order to be better for the Sunday."