The Monegasque driver took his second win of the season by 20 seconds against Red Bull’s Sergio Perez after Leclerc’s closest rival, Max Verstappen, was forced to retire. Verstappen never seemed to threaten Leclerc at a clean pace, the Dutchman admitted: “I knew I could not fight Charles, so there was no reason to try to pressure him.” But the reigning world champion came very close to overtaking Ferrari in the second restart of the safety car in the middle of the race. After a poor run from the last corner by Leclerc, Verstappen manages to pull back but fails to make the pass in turn 1. Leclerc explained that his sluggish restart was the result of his departure from the lane before Melbourne’s last turn, which meant that his tires were full of marble and he suffered a severe setback. “I tried to prepare the last corner as much as possible, staying on the left, but I actually got quite an old tire and could not turn for the last corner, so I lost so much [grip]Said Leclerc. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1st place, on the podium with Champagne Photo: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images “And then we were side by side with Max for the first turn, I managed to stay in the lead and then it got much better with the tires. And then we could pull a gap to have a little more room.” Leclerc added that although he was not much affected by Ferrari’s serious seal, he admitted that his bounce challenged him to defend against Verstappen in turn 1 braking zone. “It was a bit difficult to restart because I had it before turn 1,” he explained. “Well, you are never so sure that you will brake too hard for turn 1, but everything went well. “It was not so comfortable doing 58 laps like that.” Read also:
