Formula 1
LECLERC TAKES VICTORY IN BAHRAIN DOUBLE DNF FOR THE RED BULLS GIVING LCH LAST SPOT ON THE PODIUM…KARMA!
LECLERC ON HOW TO RACE AGAINST MAX…
“I only followed into Turn 2, as I was only behind for one corner and then would overtake Max back into Turn 4, it was tricky but it was nice though,” Leclerc said after securing Ferrari’s first F1 win since the 2019 Singapore GP.
“It was on the limit, hard racing but we will always gave each other space which was nice.
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN – MARCH 20: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 overtakes Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving (16) the Ferrari F1-75 into turn one during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 20, 2022 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool .
LECLERC: “Following him into Turn 2 was a bit more predictable than what I expected or what I had last year so this was good but it was always very close.
“I would always try to brake very early into Turn 1 to get the DRS for Turn 4 and it worked out three times in a row so then I could keep my lead.
“It was also very tricky because I was struggling quite a lot with my energy and had to manage that too but then after the third lap [of overtaking] I was in a better window with it and could push again to have a bit of margin to manage my race.”
MAX: “We were feeling quite competitive throughout the weekend so the result today was very unfortunate for us. The problems started initially with the brakes, they were overheating so I had to lift off and as a result I lost pace and had to let Charles go. After that, there were still a few issues with car balance and after my final pit stop my steering wheel was locked.
That made it very difficult to drive so defending from Carlos at the re-start wasn’t easy. The final issue looked like a fuel system problem, which is why I had to retire and it was extremely painful for both our cars to DNF. We don’t know exactly what went wrong yet but we’ll definitely analyse the data and make sure we learn from it. At the end of the day, motorsport is unpredictable and these things can happen, this is race one, we have plenty more ahead of us.”