Charles Leclerc: I was caught between two Red Bulls

Charles Leclerc collided with Sergio Perez at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix, after which Sergio retired. The Ferrari driver continued the race and finished third, which did not please the local fans, who booed Charles before the awards ceremony.

Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz finished fourth. This result put him level on points with Fernando Alonso in the battle for fourth place in the individual rankings.

Charles Leclerc (3rd): “People whistle at me a lot. Understand that I just had nowhere to go – I was sandwiched between two Red Bull cars and unfortunately I hit Sergio’s car. That’s life. My car was damaged, but Sergio got out.

As for my race, we maximized the result. Of course I’m disappointed that the race is over for Sergio, but I didn’t take him out on purpose; I just couldn’t go anywhere.

At the restart I had problems with the Hard tires. Lewis was very fast on the Medium tires and had good control over the tires. Mercedes was faster today, that’s life.”

Carlos Sainz (4th): “It is clear that the speed of the car allows us to fight for pole in qualifying, but on the race distance Red Bull is one step ahead of us. We have to understand and balance what we are doing with the car, that we are fast in qualifying but inferior in the race.

The team will analyze everything and I hope that next year’s car will be a step forward and allow us to fight. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were noticeably faster today. Third and fourth place is the best possible result for us.

In the remaining races it will be difficult for us to overtake Mercedes, especially in Brazil, because that circuit should suit their car better. The Vegas stage should be a little better for us, as well as for Abu Dhabi. It will be a tough fight with Mercedes.”