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Leclerc on fight with Verstappen: 'Max had better tyres'

Leclerc on fight with Verstappen: 'Max had better tyres'

03-07-2023 07:44

GPblog.com

At the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, there was a brief fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman eventually won this fight. Leclerc looks back on the fight during the post-race press conference.

Both men were off reasonably well at the start of the Grand Prix, but Leclerc was already trying to make things difficult for his junior rival at turn three. He put his car on the outside, trying to overtake Verstappen. At turn four, the Monegasque made another attempt, but it too failed, as Verstappen was on the inside.

'Wouldn't have benefited me'

After the race, Leclerc responded to the fight with the Red Bull driver: "Max had much fresher tyres. They are also faster when we have the same tyres. So it's not like I was trying to push like crazy. I knew it was crucial for me to lose as little time as possible in this fight. That's why I haven't been as aggressive as other times when we were fighting for real positions. This one was a bit difficult. If he hadn't overtaken me in turn four, it would have been a lap later and I would have lost more time for my race. So it wouldn't have benefited me in any way."