Charles Leclerc explains Lando Norris block: "Wrong timing, I did what I could"

Charles Leclerc explains Lando Norris block: “Wrong timing, I did what I could” | GP Monaco 2023. Charles explains Lando Norris block.

Charles Leclerc arrived in Monte Carlo with hopes of achieving an excellent result for his Ferrari team, perhaps repeating the pole positions he achieved in his home race in 2021 and 2022. In qualifying, the Monegasque driver put in a strong performance but couldn’t do better than third place, trailing Fernando Alonso by 22 milliseconds and Max Verstappen, who took pole position, by 106 milliseconds. However, his result is currently affected by the investigation into the Maranello driver’s incident with Lando Norris in Q3, as the Monegasque who was summoned by the Stewards at 6 p.m. for impeding the McLaren man.

During the final segment on Saturday, Q3, Charles Leclerc found himself in the path of the British driver inside the tunnel, causing a dangerous situation. Lando Norris had to brake to avoid contact with Charles Leclerc, thus canceling his own attempt. The Federation has launched an investigation into the incident, and in the following hours a decision will be made, with the real possibility of penalizing Charles Leclerc with a three-position grid penalty for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Charles Leclerc’s comments on blocking the McLaren driver
Speaking to Sky Sport, the Ferrari driver explained the incident: “I did everything I could to move to the left. The timing was difficult for me to manage, and inside the tunnel, visibility in the mirrors wasn’t great. I moved to the left as soon as I got the information. I know the timing wasn’t right, but I did everything I could. I explained myself to the Stewards. I did everything I could, but I don’t know what will happen with the penalty.” – Charles Leclerc pointed out.

“Honestly, I’m happy because I had a challenging weekend in terms of the car, with the same issues as in Miami. But in qualifying, we made changes and I regained the feeling and everything went in the right direction. So that was positive, even though it cost us putting the lap together in Q3. But I’m happy with today’s work because with a difficult car to drive, I did my best. If we start third and have a trouble-free race, we don’t have the pace to overtake everyone on the track, but it’s Monaco, and you never know what can happen. I believe that last year’s winner started third, so that makes me smile, but I don’t know if it will be possible to repeat it.” – the Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver concluded.