Does Leclerc copy the action of Verstappen and Alonso? ''This was not planned''

Charles Leclerc overtook Valtteri Bottas on the outside of turn three, in a manner we have seen before from Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen. Leclerc was happy with his action, but had never seen his rivals do this.

At the Spanish Grand Prix it is very difficult to overtake, so you need to be very fast to do so. The start is of course the ideal opportunity, but after the first corner there's another huge chance. In 2013, Alonso showed how to overtake on the outside of turn three, and Verstappen copied him in 2016.

Leclerc does it himself

Whereas Verstappen revealed after the 2016 race that he had looked at the footage before the weekend, Leclerc was completely unaware of these previous actions. ''It wasn't planned. I just saw the opportunity at the time when I was in the car, and I just went for it. It seemed to work fine. I was trying to find a different line to Valtteri, because Valtteri was following Lewis. And when you are obviously behind the car, you're losing so much downforce that I was just trying to get offline,'' Leclerc told Sky TV.

After the race, however, it soon became clear that Leclerc had never seen Alonso's action. ''Everyone is telling me about that but actually, I don't even know what you're talking about. I have never seen this overtake. Was it at the start for him too? Because I think it's a lot more difficult during the race to be honest with all the marbles around the outside. So I went for the easy solution on lap one,'' concludes Leclerc.