Charles Leclerc believes his close-call with Max Verstappen was “pretty clear” in the wake of his defeat by the Dutchman at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Long-term race leader Leclerc was reeled in by Verstappen during the closing stages and they contested the position in the final laps.
Verstappen launched a move into Turn 3, only for Leclerc to respond, and next time around the Red Bull driver tried again, passing the Ferrari racer.
But the move is currently under investigation for Verstappen having allegedly forced another driver off track.
“On the incident I’ll let the stewards decide but for me, it was pretty clear in the car,” said Leclerc. “I don’t know how it looked like from the outside.
“I was on the outside [of the corner], like the lap before, the a lap before was completely fine, he left the space for a car width on the exit of the corner but he didn’t on the other lap so we touched and I had to go wide, and then obviously I didn’t have any chance to pass back so it’s a shame.”
Speaking in the post-race press conference, Leclerc added: “For me, there are two places where you overtake on this track which are Turn 3 and Turn 4, or where it is mostly where you overtake.
“I was aware he was coming very quickly and checking but these two places I knew that if he had an opportunity or was getting closer I believed it was here that he’d try it.
“As I said, I did exactly the same thing from the first to the second lap, so I did not expect any contact on the second lap.
“As Max said, I think he broke a little bit deeper, I don’t know if he lost it or not, but then there was the contact.
“I felt I was quite strong on traction, the first time I managed to have better traction and I kept my position. On the second lap I couldn’t do that because I was off-track.”
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