Verstappen defends Leclerc: 'He doesn't need to hear that from anyone'

Max Verstappen speaks up for Charles Leclerc in the press conference after the Grand Prix in Imola. According to the Dutchman, the mistake from the Monegasque was not as big a blunder as people now pretend.

For Leclerc, the Grand Prix weekend ended in a major way. In the hunt for Sergio Perez's second spot, the Ferrari driver was just a little too eager on his new soft tyres. He hit the kerb the hard and ended up in the wall. He was able to continue his way, but lost a lot of ground and didn't move beyond sixth place, much to the disappointment of the Tifosi.

An expensive mistake by Leclerc led to his rival Verstappen taking advantage of it. The Dutchman was not laughing at the mistake, however, but did feel sorry for Charles. ''That mistake was made easily. Of course he was pushing to fight with Checo. It's painful, but he knows that himself. He doesn't need to hear that from anyone else at all,'' Verstappen said.

According to the Dutchman, his rival therefore has nothing to worry about. ''It's still a long championship. You can still win a lot of points. Of course it's not great, but you can't change it anymore. He didn't do it on purpose," Max concludes in defence of Charles.