“You have to adapt to every situation”: Charles Leclerc will change his driving style if Max Verstappen’s Brazil incident goes unpunished

Charles Leclerc said that he has to change how he overtakes a car from the outside if Max Verstappen’s Sao Paolo incident goes unpunished. 

Verstappen squeezing Lewis Hamilton off track in last week’s Sao Paolo GP has been a subject of controversy. The Red Bull driver was not penalized for his actions and went on to finish 2nd. However, Mercedes requested a ‘right for review’ for the incident on Tuesday.

The stewards have not come to a verdict yet. Whether Verstappen should get a penalty for his driving or not, is a matter of opinion. Some have called his driving reckless and dangerous while some feel it was just ‘hard racing’ between two all time greats.

The classic “ease off the brake pedal and gently understeer wide” move. Every (good) racing driver on the planet would have done the same.

Maybe Max deserved a warning but nothing more in my view. Good, hard racing between two of the best drivers ever. https://t.co/I4iUH1Rrgg

— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) November 16, 2021

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has said that he does not have any opinion on the outcome. As long as there is consistency with the decisions made by FIA, Leclerc has no problem with whether Max gets penalized or not.

However, he hopes the authorities come to a solid decision. The Monegasque driver said that he has to adjust his driving style accordingly.

“You always need to adapt to every situation, every decision the stewards are doing,” said Leclerc. “As soon as I knew that it wasn’t a penalty for Max in Austria, I came to Silverstone and I changed my driving.”

F1 drivers always race at limits of what they are allowed to do, says Charles Leclerc

According to the 24 year old, every  driver on the grid likes to race hard. He added that he would do the same if he was in a similar situation.

“I think that’s a bit the same for every driver, we will always try to race at the limits of what we’re allowed to do.” he said.

“And that’s what I will do if in case these these things are allowed. Austria it was a bit of a different situation again. After that we could race a bit harder, which I think was good for F1, for the show. This situation was another one. I’ll leave it to the stewards to just see what they think.”

Max Verstappen’s fate will be decided ahead of the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix this weekend.

Also read: Carlos Sainz offers F1 solution after Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen incident in Brazil