Charles Leclerc was "just quicker" than Sebastian Vettel

Charles Leclerc had a heartbreaking race. However, before the issue he had with his car, the youngster was driving incredibly well. After losing his position at the start of the race to his teammate Sebastian Vettel, Leclerc managed to overtake the 4-time world champion, something that he described as being very risky. He went on to establish a healthy lead before the tragic incident ended his chances of winning.    

“It’s always a tricky situation when you get to fight your teammate because the risks are very high and, as in every team, they warn you before the race: OK, you can try things on different people, but with your team-mate, please be careful – which is something normal,” Leclerc said to Crash.net.

“It’s always obvious that something more. I had the opportunity and I didn’t hesitate, I just sent for it. I was happy it was successful the first time I tried, especially after the bad start. So yeah, happy with how it ended up.”

When questioned about the message Leclerc sent to his team to say that he was faster than Vettel, he said, “I was just letting them know. I think I had an answer, ‘okay, stay like this for two laps’ but then on the next straight I had the opportunity to go for it, so I went for it and it was a successful pass and then I was just quicker, so then I did my race,” he said.

“Then obviously, to lose the lead in this way it’s always a shame and always a disappointment but I also had a lot of things to do and there were still points to grab so I very quickly got back to focus on my race,” he said.

“The win was out of reach because of the problem but there were still very important points to gain.”

Leclerc will bounce back and he's shown he is a real contender in this year's championship.