Verstappen hits out at "irresponsible" Leclerc
Max Verstappen has labelled Charles Leclerc's driving in the Japanese Grand Prix as "irresponsible", saying that "doesn't understand" the decision not to penalise the Ferrari driver.
Leclerc had started the race from second on the grid but got a poor getaway, while Verstappen was able to sweep his Red Bull past the fourth-starting Lewis Hamilton to gain an advantage heading into Turn 2.
But the Ferrari driver ran deep into the corner before going wide, then colliding with Verstappen and forcing him off the track.
The stewards initially deemed the collision a racing incident that did not require an investigation, before reopening the case some laps later to be looked into after the race.
Verstappen ultimately retired his Red Bull on lap 15.
"At T2, Charles just drove into the side of my car," said Verstappen in a post-race interview to Sky.
"From my side I don't think I could have done anything different there. We all know that you lose downforce behind a car so that is not an excuse, he's experienced enough to know that.
"For me, the weird thing is that initially they don't investigate it - the whole car was destroyed, there were just holes in the side of the car.
"Now they've started to investigate it but it's after the race, what more should he do to get a penalty? I like hard racing but this wasn't hard racing, just irresponsible driving.
"They had a bad start so he was trying to recover but there's only so much you can do in a very long race. It's a shame that it happened."
Leclerc did not attribute blame to Verstappen for the incident after the race and said it was a "tricky situation" that he would need to see a replay of.
"Obviously I understeered being behind Seb and Lewis, and then we touched, I don't know what happened from the full situation from the outside, and this I need to look at," said Leclerc.
"From the car it was just a tricky situation."
Sebastian Vettel was also briefly under investigation for a jumped start, but ultimately escaped a penalty - with Verstappen unhappy with the inconsistency from the FIA.
"Also, just watching the footage back from Seb's start, he moves, he stops - the rules say you cannot move," said Verstappen.
"It's fine because he didn't gain an advantage there, I really don't understand what's going on today with the rules."
Share Or Save This Story
Bottas expects "decent step" from Mercedes upgrades
Lotterer, Chadwick and Ogier join Extreme E driver programme
Coulthard "doesn't understand" high-profile W Series critics
Guenther Steiner predicts Max Verstappen will go winless in 2026 F1 season
Red Bull admits Max Verstappen's mysterious car issue cannot be fully fixed until 2027
How Kimi Antonelli is proving unbeatable, even when he's beaten
Why Charles Leclerc didn’t copy Lewis Hamilton’s driving style amid F1 2026 struggle
Ferrari reveals special black race suit for Charles Leclerc at F1 Singapore GP
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
Brad Keselowski crew chief Jeremy Bullins to exit RFK Racing, effective immediately
NASCAR will not penalize Hocevar and Blaney for Bristol fight, but still reviewing others
F1 confirms new Hot Wheels "Infinite Rush" car collection for 2027 release
Ryan Blaney regrets his actions, admits "I got my ass kicked" in Hocevar fight
Great debate: Which circuit should host the F1 2026 finale if the calendar has to change?
Italy’s next F1 world champion?
What's behind the talks between the FIA president and Fernando Alonso over ADUO?
Fernando Alonso is right to sound the alarm about F1 - but history seems to be repeating itself
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments