Leclerc's reply to Verstappen's allegation: 'You are fighting for third place'

18:51, 02 Jun

byNorberto Mujica

Max Verstappen was very vocal in his view that Charles Leclerc 'drove into him', in the late stages of the Spanish Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver now reacts to the Dutchman's criticism.

A late safety car threw a spanner in the works at the Spanish Grand Prix. While it derailed Verstappen's race, it benefitted Leclerc's. Speaking about the way Verstappen complained about his overtake manoeuvre for P3, Leclerc told media like GPblog: "I probably would have been very vocal if it was the other way around as well, because you are fighting for third place."

Charles Leclerc came home P3 at the Spanish Grand Prix

'Frustrated' Verstappen 'didn't seem to want to move at all'

What ignited Verstappen's criticism wasn't the racing at all thinks Leclerc. "You are just trying everything to get that third place back, and I think he knew that on track it would be very difficult with the tyres he was on. So, yeah, I mean, honestly, I don't have any particular feeling about it."

Regarding the overtake per se, the Monegasque didn't see anything wrong with it.

"There was nothing special. I overtook on the inside. He tried to squeeze me on the dirty side of the track, then I had the upper hand because I had more speed because of the mistake he had done."

"And then I was trying to take the slipstream of the McLaren, went a tiny bit to the left. He didn’t seem to want to move at all. And we touched a little bit, but there was nothing special."