F1 News: Charles Leclerc Responds To Mexican GP Booing After Sergio Perez Crash
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said that he understands the sentiments of Mexican fans and their disappointment at the crash of Sergio Perez at his home race which caused his retirement but, he denied taking responsibility for the incident as he was in a helpless situation.
Starting on the front row at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, Leclerc gunned his SF-23 down the straight. But the Red Bulls made an even better start as all three cars entered turn 1 at the same time. As a result, the Ferrari had little space to move in between the two RB19s.
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Perez tried to pass him on the outside but made contact with the Ferraris' front wing and wheel. His car was then catapulted into the air before crashing down heavily, thus forcing him to retire from the race.
In the case of Leclerc, the Monégasque went on to fight his way to the podium in P3 but since he was on Perez's turf, he was greeted with boos from the Mexican crowd for the incident with the Red Bull driver.
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While the stewards didn't blame him for the incident with Perez, the frustration of the fans came through. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Leclerc expressed that he understood the fans but, he was helpless in that situation. He said:
“It was really tight. Checo was on the left, Max was on the right. I tried my best to stay on the right as close as possible to Max but I think Checo didn’t know that. Started to turn in and we collided.
"It’s a bit of a shame that it happened for Checo at his home race. I could hear that many fans were disappointed and I can understand, but on the other hand I couldn’t do anything better unfortunately.
"I usually put myself in these situations, and I understand their disappointment because they’re very passionate about the sport. They waited a whole year to see Checo, and he’s out on the first corner."
However, Leclerc also asked fans to be objective, hinting that the footage of the incident clearly shows he had nowhere to go. He concluded:
“But I would also love for people to be objective. You only need to see the footage from the race to see that I didn’t have any space and couldn’t go anywhere.”
