Leclerc relieved after fight with Perez: 'That was the only chance I had'

It was a great race for Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque finished second in Las Vegas, but he was able to fight for victory for a long time. On the last lap, it looked like Sergio Perez would finish second, but the Ferrari driver managed to pass the Red Bull driver just before the chequered flag fell.

Leclerc again failed to convert a pole position into a win, but that does not mean his race was not good. For a long time, it looked like the Ferrari driver had a good chance of running away with the biggest trophy. After Max Verstappen passed the Monegasque, Leclerc battled Perez for a long time. That battle was decided a few corners before the end in favour of the Monegasque.

Leclerc's reaction after overtaking

Leclerc himself is hugely happy with his action: "Once I went for it, I was pretty confident it would work out. It was basically the only opportunity I had. It’s the only place where you can go for an overtake, and I also had in mind that Checo had done a small mistake four or five laps before, so I knew he was being cautious a little bit on braking. In the second to last lap, I started to recharge the batteries in order to get ready for that last lap and it worked out. So it was obviously very, very tight but I was really happy, and I really enjoyed the fight."