Leclerc: I couldn’t slow down later, I didn’t want to take any risks

Charles Leclerc, commenting on the results of the Singapore Grand Prix, admitted he had done everything in his power but tried to avoid undue risk as the cost of any mistake can be very high.

Q: Supposedly the results of the race made you a little upset: don’t you think it repeated to some extent what happened in 2019, when you also finished second?
Charles Leclerc: No, no, every race brings different emotions. But of course I’m angry. Today we showed a very good pace, but unfortunately the start was not successful and we were in a somewhat unfavorable position.

I tried to actively pressure Sergio, but the tires overheated pretty quickly and the pace dropped. That’s why it was hard for me to drive close behind his car all the time. But we were capable of good speed. I also believe that we made the right decisions.

For this weekend I have said that I want to achieve more efficient and coordinated work of the team as a whole in the remaining phases, and I feel that we have taken a step forward. But we have to keep moving in the right direction gradually. In that respect I am satisfied. Although I don’t like second place in the race.

Q: You say it’s all because of a bad start. Can you explain what happened in the first 200 meters of the race?
Charles Leclerc: I’m not sure about it. Maybe I made a mistake, maybe it’s something else – this has yet to be analyzed. Unless I felt some slip from the drive wheels, this made the acceleration drop and I saw how great Sergio started. In general, as it turned out, it happened.

Q: Looks like after switching to slicks you were able to add in the second half of the race. Were you faster than Sergio at that stage?
Charles Leclerc: Yes, but only in the beginning, when I attacked with full force. But in the last ten laps he fell behind again and started to pull away. Overall I think we had a good pace on the intermediate tires but the problem is the track wasn’t that wet so the tires overheated a lot and the grip decreased every time I got closer to his car.

But after a period when there was a safety car on the track, we went pretty fast. However, we have a lot to analyze after this race because the Red Bull car seemed capable of great speed after six or seven laps. And we’re in the first five or six laps. Let’s try to figure this out.

Q: After the second restart, when you were already on slicks, you could get close to Sergio’s car and you could use DRS. But at Turn 16 you had some poignant moments – can you tell us a bit about that? Did you have to stop trying to attack after you were outside the second interval?
Charles Leclerc: What surprised me was that as soon as I lost the ability to use DRS, the tires on Sergio’s car worked as they should, and unfortunately I started to fall behind. But before that, I attacked at the limit, and in such conditions, and even if you’re driving in a turbulence zone, even the smallest mistake can have serious consequences.

In general, I made a few mistakes when I tried to stay as close to the Red Bull car as possible, because you could only overtake on a straight line. I couldn’t brake later because I didn’t know what the condition of the road surface was on the inside of the track and I didn’t want to take the risk.

On one lap I got really close and was about to go out and try to brake later but decided I shouldn’t do this. So I just waited for a more suitable opportunity, but unfortunately it never came.

Q: Can you tell us what you thought of the last ten laps? Are you already very tired and unable to fight?
Charles Leclerc: No, I always fight to the end. Of course I knew that Sergio was being examined, my technician informed me about this, and when he said that Sergio was more than five seconds away from him, all I had to do was reach the finish line.

The track conditions were really difficult, Carlos and Sergio confirmed it, it was very difficult to drive and it was easy to make a mistake. In general, as soon as I realized the gap was more than five seconds, I just tried to make it to the finish.

Q: You said the tires on Sergio’s car started working after a few laps, but he caused the wheels to lock a few times. It looked like you had an opportunity to overtake at such times, but what kept you from taking advantage of these opportunities?

Charles Leclerc: Unfortunately, when he locked the wheels under braking, I wasn’t close enough. But I don’t think it had anything to do with the condition of his tires. I think he made a few mistakes, but that’s normal in those circumstances and I wasn’t close enough to try to overtake.