F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Leclerc moves forward after 'clearing the air' with Perez

Charles Leclerc swiftly brushed aside his rage and furor over Sergio Perez's defensive driving in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix after clearing the air with the Mexican.

Leclerc attempted twice in the second half of the race at the Red Bull Ring to drive around the outside of Perez, only for the Red Bull driver to open up his exit and drive his Ferrari rival off the track.

Perez was hit with a five-second penalty for his first maneuver at the Red Bull Ring's Turn 4 but hadn't served the sanction when he was handed a second five-second penalty for wrongly fending off Leclerc a second time.

The Red Bull driver who went on to finish the race P6, two spots ahead of Leclerc, apologized to the Monegasque, insisting he had felt comfortable with himself after the pair of clashes.

For Leclerc, it was water under the bridge when all was said and done, even as some compared the incidents with his on-track clash with Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring two years ago when he was leading the race.

"Let’s say this one is a little bit different," he said. "Because you can argue two years ago, I was not in front at the apex, or we were very close at least.

"But this year I was definitely in front at the apex. He had to leave a space on the exit. I think he knows he over-stepped it a little bit."

Leclerc said that he had appreciated Perez's apologetic attitude after the race.

"We spoke with Checo, he apologised straight away after the race," said the Ferrari charger.

"It’s fine, I’m not the type of guy who is staying on it for so long. So the air is cleared and I’ll go forward.

"I feel like this one was obviously a little bit different, the consequences were different for me, there were gravels, not tarmac, and I was also in front at the apex round the outside.

"So normally you need to leave the space."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Russell cheeky engagement joke after Zandvoort sprint pole

Dutch Grand Prix Sprint poleman George Russell returned from Formula 1’s summer break with a…

2 hours ago

Alonso singles out new Honda power unit for Sprint Qualifying miss

Fernando Alonso arrived at Zandvoort hoping Honda’s much-anticipated new power unit would help Aston Martin…

3 hours ago

Antonelli says early off compromised Sprint qualifying pace

Kimi Antonelli emerged from Friday’s Sprint qualifying only 0.227 seconds off Mercedes team-mate George Russell’s…

4 hours ago

Dutch GP: Friday's action in pictures

Mercedes stole a march on its rivals along the shores of the North Sea on…

4 hours ago

Dutch GP: Russell snatches pole for Zandvoort Sprint

George Russell produced a late surge to claim pole position for Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix…

5 hours ago

Dutch Grand Prix - Sprint qualifying results

Full results from Sprint qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, round 12 of…

5 hours ago