Despite claiming the pole position in a street circuit, Charles Leclerc failed to win the inaugural Las Vegas GP. It was none other than Max Verstappen, who yet again converted Leclerc’s pole into his own victory. However, Jan Lammers believes that the Dutchman would have won even in a Ferrari, not just in Red Bull.
Speaking about this, Lammers said as per GP Blog, “In the race, you also saw him (Leclerc) make some mistakes. That’s where the difference is. If Leclerc drove without mistakes he could have battled with Max for victory in Las Vegas. If Max had been in the Ferrari, I think he would have won with the Ferrari.”
Lammers, the former racing driver emphasized the unreal ability of Verstappen to not make mistakes on track as the primary reason why he has been so good, and therefore, he was able to rake in 18 wins. This is something he did not see in Leclerc.
Nevertheless, it was the only shot of redemption for Leclerc, who has been vying for a win since he last won in Austria in 2022. However, it was not fully on the Monegasque to lose the win.
Ferrari believes Safety Car cost Charles Leclerc his win over Max Verstappen
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes the second Safety Car cost Charles Leclerc his win in Vegas. According to him, the Safety Car could not have come at the worst possible time and in the end jeopardized his race.
Admittedly, the mentioned Safety Car arrived after Verstappen and Russell had a slight collision in Turn 12 of Lap 27, which left debris on the track. This happened just after four laps of Leclerc pitting for fresher tires. On the other hand, it helped both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen have quick pitstops and keep close to the Ferrari driver.
Following the stop, Perez came out after Leclerc and Verstappen in P5. In the end, the Dutchman pipped everyone to the victory at Formula 1’s newest venue. As for the Monegasque, he had to be happy with P2, which he snatched from Perez right at the end.
Notably, Charles Leclerc also blamed the FIA. The Ferrari driver was of the opinion that the FIA needed to give him the position back from Verstappen instead of a five-second time penalty. However, with the Las Vegas GP over now, Leclerc and Co. need to focus on Abu Dhabi and Mercedes for P2 in the Constructors’ championship.
