“Checo Had Done a Small Mistake”: Charles Leclerc Reveals When He Knew He’ll Overtake Sergio Perez on Last Lap

“Checo Had Done a Small Mistake”: Charles Leclerc Reveals When He Knew He’ll Overtake Sergio Perez on Last Lap

The 2023 Las Vegas GP was nail-biting from start to finish. However, the highlight of the entire GP was Charles Leclerc’s daring last lap lunge on Sergio Perez to seal P2. Following the conclusion of the race, the Monegasque revealed the exact moment when he knew he was going to nail the overtake, per GPBlog.com.

Leclerc explained, “I also had in mind that Checo had done a small mistake four or five laps before, so I knew he was being cautious a little bit on braking. In the second to last lap, I started to recharge the batteries in order to get ready for that last lap and it worked out. So it was obviously very, very tight but I was really happy, and I really enjoyed the fight.”

On the very last lap of the race, Leclerc pulled out of the slipstream of the Red Bull driver to make an audacious move. Late onto the brakes, Leclerc dived down the inside and steered clear of Perez as they made their way out of the chicane. Thereafter, the Monegasque placed his SF-23 perfectly and stormed to the chequered flag.

Even though Leclerc finished second, he was slightly disappointed to miss out on the win. By his own admission, one race-changing event robbed him of it.

Charles Leclerc blames Safety Car for missing out on the win

Despite showing some promising pace throughout the weekend, Charles Leclerc had to settle for second. But he believes it was the late Safety Car that ruined his chances of a win. He told Sky Sports, “I really believe that without the Safety Car, the win was ours. We had a really good first stint on the medium and we had five laps newer hards than Max.”

The 2nd Safety Car was brought out in the aftermath of a collision between Verstappen and George Russell. The safety car produced costly for Leclerc as it eliminated all his advantage over Verstappen and also gave the Dutchman fresher tires.

Leclerc has endured a winless season this year. On the other hand, Verstappen clinched his 18th win of the season in Las Vegas. Although Ferrari were the stronger of the two teams in Las Vegas, Leclerc could not capitalize because of an element of misfortune.

Ferrari will now just wait for this season to end. With 2024 just on the horizon, the Maranello-based team will be hoping to mount a stronger charge for the title next year.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Charles Leclerc ferrari Las Vegas GP Max Verstappen Red Bull Sergio Perez

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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