Leclerc 'tried to be clever' when defending from Verstappen in F1's Bahrain GP
Leclerc went head-to-head with Verstappen after the first round of pit stops at Sakhir after Red Bull c🌊alled its driver in on Lap 15 to pe♏rform the undercut.
Red Bull’s superior straight-line speed allowed Verstappen to get ahead into Turn 1 but Leclerc us♕ed the second DRS zone to get ♌back ahead.
The exact same moves occurred on the following lap with ꦦLeclerc retaining the lead on Lap 18.
Verstappen then tried a late lunge into Tur📖n 1 on the subsequent lap b💦ut Leclerc stayed ahead, eventually going on to win the race ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Reflecting on the battle with Verstappen, Leclerc explained how he ensured he had 💝DRS for the run to Turn 4 to regain the lead of the grand prix.
"I was trying to be as clever as possible," explained Leclerc. "Using the DRS as much as possible so I was trying to brak♋e early in Turn 1 just to be behind him at the DRS de𒐪tection and twice it worked out.
"I took back my 🌟first position and I'm just incredibly happy that we made it work."
Leclerc ended Ferrari's win drought with it not standing on the top step since the 2019 Singapore Gran༒d Prix with Sebastian Vettel.
The Monegasque praised the team for doing "an incredible job" after a 🐽couple of difficult years for the Italian manufacturer.
"The last two years have been incredibly difficult for the team and we knew this was going to be a big opportunity for the team and the guys have done such an incredible job building this amazing car," Leclerc added. "For now, we’re starting in the best way possible with pole position, victory, fastest lap and a 1-2𒊎 today with Carlos [Sainz]. We couldn't hope for better.
"Thank you to all the guys that kept suppꦇorting us in the last two years, it hasn't been easy but it's incredible to be back at the top."
With a sharp 𒈔eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
