Leclerc pushed too much in closing: 'Tried to get closer to Perez'

Charles Leclerc would prefer to forget the Imola Grand Prix as soon as possible. The Monegasque went in pursuit of Sergio Perez in the closing stages of the race, but made a mistake and spun. Fortunately, Leclerc was able to continue, but eventually, he had to make do with a P6.

After Carlos Sainz's crash on the opening lap in Imola, all the pressure was on Leclerc to get a nice result on home ground of Ferrari, but in the closing stages of the race things went wrong. In front of Viaplay's camera, the driver explains where it went wrong.

"It wasn’t great. I’ve had a season where I haven’t made many mistakes until now, or close to none, but today was one big one. Realistically, we didn’t have the pace of the Red Bull, it was too quick today for us in all the conditions. I tried to put a bit more speed into turn 14 and 15 to get closer to Checo to overtake him in turn 2. This was one of the few opportunities in the race, and I pushed too much, so it’s a shame," he said.

Leclerc went along with team's decision

Max Verstappen grabbed the maximum number of points this weekend and thus is catching up with Leclerc in the championship. The gap is still large, but Leclerc's mistake could be costly. The choice to stop in the closing stages for a new set of soft tires was not his choice. "It was the call from the team and I respected it," he said.