F1 News
Leclerc wasn't nervous as Hamilton chased him down
Charles Leclerc has admitted he didn't feel nervous as Lewis Hamilton was hunting him down at Spa this weekend, citing his previous experiences in similar situations as the reasoning behind this.
Leclerc won his first-ever Formula 1 race on Sunday as he took victory from pole at the Belgian Grand Prix. He held off a late surge from five-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton to claim top spot, dedicating his win to F2 driver, Anthoine Hubert.
Leclerc has been in similar situations this season with drivers hunting him down. Max Verstappen caught him in the closing stages in Austria and he was leading for much of the Bahrain Grand Prix before a technical failure.
Leclerc admitted these situations helped him from being nervous as Hamilton closed the gap.
"I wasn’t more nervous. I’ve started to get used to being in that situation where I’m first and I’m chased by someone that is quicker," Leclerc said in the post-race press conference.
"Obviously, I knew it was Lewis and I knew I could not afford to do any mistakes because he will take the opportunity.
"But yeah, apart from the last lap, he was never really close enough to try something. But yeah, as I said, I was just trying to focus on my own job and finish the race."