Charles Leclerc believes Max Verstappen benefitted from not being ordered to let him through after the Ferrari was forced off the track at the start in Las Vegas.
Starting alongside each other on the front row, Verstappen executed a better launch from the dirty side of the grid to be in a position to seize the inside line into Turn 1.
However, the expected low-grip track conditions at the first corner, which contributed to Fernando Alonso spinning and Carlos Sainz hitting Lewis Hamilton, saw Verstappen slide wide, forcing both himself and Leclerc outside the bounds of the track.
Although Verstappen was advised to retain the place by his race engineer, the stewards later hit the Dutchman with a five-second penalty, which he served at his first pit stop.
Leclerc contends that the rightful penalty was awarded to Verstappen, who immediately sought to discuss the incident that had initially angered the Ferrari driver.
“Max already came to me and explained the situation,” Leclerc revealed. “Obviously it was on the limit, over the limit and I think the five-second penalty is deserved.
“It was tight. I still tried to push off the track, but it was so low grip to try and keep that position. But it’s the way it is. He has been penalised, he paid the penalty and I think that was the right penalty to give. So it’s like this.”
But Leclerc insists that being handed a time penalty rather than an instruction to reverse the positions aided Verstappen as he was then able to nurse his tyres in clear air.
He added: “I just think that in those kind of situations it would be better for the FIA to ask to give the place back because I think there’s quite a bit of an advantage to take care of tyres when you have free air.”
Meanwhile, having dismissed that he intentionally ran his rival wide, Verstappen admitted that it was the correct choice to penalise him for the episode in hindsight.
“The start was good but we both braked quite late to defend the position, but I was a bit on the inside on the dirt, I guess,” Verstappen explained.
“As soon as you’re a bit off-line here it’s super-low grip and that’s what happened. I braked and there was no grip. I didn’t mean to push Charles off the track, but I couldn’t slow down, I just kept sliding on four wheels, wide. So that’s why we had to go wide.
“At the time you’re also full of adrenaline and I was not happy with the decision but looking back at it, it was probably the right call. After that, of course, with that five seconds, it was definitely a bit harder to come back to the front.”
However, Verstappen downplayed Leclerc’s suggestion that he gained an advantage by remaining ahead, citing that backing off would have also lost him substantial time.
“We opted to just stay ahead at that point,” he reflected. “So then you take the five second penalty.
“I don’t know what’s better at the end. I mean, I paid the penalty, right? So it doesn’t matter in a way, you know, like if you go back behind, you probably also end up losing whatever, five seconds. So it’s pretty similar, I guess at the end.”
