Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has opened up on the his tactics he used in order to keep Red Bull Racing Dutch driver Max Verstappen behind in the first round of the 2022 Formula 1 season, as he charged to victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit.
Charles Leclerc took his third Formula 1 career win and led a Scuderia Ferrari 1-2 finish from his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz Jr after Max Verstappen suffered a fuel system failure with his Red Bull which forced him to retire from the race late on, after he fought with Charles Leclerc for the lead in the first part of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The two drivers traded overtakes for the lead on three consecutive laps during the first stint in Sakhir, with Max Verstappen getting ahead helped by DRS at Turn 1 before the Monegasque driver charged back ahead in the run to Turn 4. In his press conference after the race, the Ferrari driver explained how he made sure to keep in DRS range by braking early at Turn 1, thereby making sure if Max Verstappen did get ahead then he could instantly fight back on the next straight.
This idea eventually helped Charles Leclerc to also break from Max Verstappen when the Dutchman locked up and ran wide in an unsuccessful passing move at Turn 1, allowing Charles Leclerc to stay ahead and push on with DRS to create a gap: “I only followed into Turn 2, as I was only behind for one corner and then would overtake Max back into Turn 4, it was tricky but it was nice though,” – Charles Leclerc added after scoring the Maranello team’s first Formula 1 race victory since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix:
“It was on the limit, hard racing but we will always gave each other space which was nice. Following him into Turn 2 was a bit more predictable than what I expected or what I had last year so this was good but it was always very close. I would always try to brake very early into Turn 1 to get the DRS for Turn 4 and it worked out three times in a row so then I could keep my lead. It was also very tricky because I was struggling quite a lot with my energy and had to manage that too but then after the third lap [of overtaking] I was in a better window with it and could push again to have a bit of margin to manage my race.” – he continued.
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Charles Leclerc was also able to manager the advantage over his Red Bull rival during the pitstop moments, with Red Bull twice attempting the undercut to try to get the reigning F1 world champion in front after Ferrari called Charles Leclerc to the pits. Asked to comment on his fight with Charles Leclerc, Verstappen explained: “It was alright, I think overall I didn’t have a great balance to attack but I had two attempts or more less with the DRS. It was fun, I had a good battle with Charles. He is a good racer as well so it was good fun out there.”
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