F1 News
Leclerc: ‘I just raced harder than normal’
- Bevan Youl
Charles Leclerc has admitted to racing ‘harder than normal’ at the British Grand Prix after missing out on a win in Austria due to an aggressive move by Max Verstappen.
In Austria Leclerc and Verstappen went wheel to wheel for the win at the Red Bull Ring, with the Dutchman making a risky move to pass Leclerc, pushing him off the track.
But at Silverstone Leclerc got the better after claiming that he would race tougher on track after the previous events, out-manoeuvring Verstappen.
Leclerc said (quoted by Motorsport): “Nothing personal, but after Austria I said if the stewards accept us to race this way, then I'm more than happy to race like this.
“This is what I did this weekend.
“So nothing special. I just raced harder than normal just because I felt like in the last two races, or maybe a bit before, that Formula 1 wants hard racing and I think us drivers are pushing for hard racing.
“That's why we enjoy the most to be racing like that and that's what I did.”
Leclerc also admitted that Ferrari need to work on their race pace despite their qualifying times being up there with Mercedes.
“It was very difficult. At the moment I think with our quali pace we can do strong things but our race pace we need to work,” Leclerc added.
“Red Bull seems to be better at keeping the tyres for longer and that’s why I tried to keep Max behind me for so long.
“But in the car it was definitely probably the most fun race I’ve had since I started in F1.
“It was very, very enjoyable, very hard racing that was always borderline but still within the rules and I really enjoyed that fight.”