Charles Leclerc: “If anyone is to blame, it’s me”

His qualifications had revealed reasons for hope in view of yesterday's race for the Sakhir Grand Prix. After hoisting his Ferrari in the second row on Saturday, Charles Leclerc expected to do well on the fast version of the Bahrain route.

But very aggressive braking at turn n°4, then contact with Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), future winner, got the better of the ambitions of the Scuderia driver, forced to retire, just like Max Verstappen (Red Bull), collateral victim of the incident.

“It was a shame to be out of the race on the first lap, underlined the ex-Sauber driver. I was on the inside of Max, a little behind, and I tried to get up to speed and brake a little later.

I had seen Checo (Pérez) in front of me but I expected him to stay outside Valtteri (Bottas), which did not happen because he braked a little earlier than Valtteri and came back towards the inside of the corner.

As soon as I saw him coming back, I braked but it was too late because I locked my front wheel and hit him. » Penalized by two points on his license and above all, three places on the starting grid in Abu Dhabi this Sunday, the Monegasque admits his fault.

"I don't blame anyone else, If anyone is to blame, it's me. Of course I'm disappointed and it will be good to be back in the car in a few days so I can put this race behind me. »

Especially since Sebastian Vettel was unable to climb into the points, with only 12th place as the final result.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Sakhir Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondent in Bahrain, in issue 2290 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.