Leclerc on fight with Verstappen: 'Wouldn't have benefited'

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

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

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."