Charles Leclerc has dismissed Isack Hadjar’s declare that Max Verstappen would have gained the Singapore Grand Prix by an even bigger margin had he been driving a Ferrari, branding the suggestion “nonsense”.
Hadjar made the comment forward of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, downplaying Purple Bull’s tempo benefit and insisting the Milton Keynes-based crew didn’t have the quickest automotive on the grid in Singapore, regardless of Verstappen changing pole into victory.
The Dutchman managed the race from the entrance on the Marina Bay Avenue Circuit, managing his tyres to beat Leclerc by 7.335 seconds, with Kimi Antonelli finishing the rostrum for Mercedes.
Leclerc couldn’t get close to the four-time F1 champion within the race, and he was left removed from impressed when requested about Hadjar’s feedback.
Talking to the media, together with RacingNews365, forward of the Circuit of the Americas weekend, Leclerc made clear he felt Hadjar was in no place to evaluate.
“I feel it is nonsense to begin saying these sorts of issues,” stated Leclerc.
“I imply, Isack has no concept what sort of automotive we drive, and I don’t know what sort of automotive he drives.”
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Leclerc predicts ‘very tight’ battle
The Ferrari driver completed second in Singapore after struggling to make progress in Verstappen’s soiled air, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton fading to sixth after an prolonged stint on smooth tyres that left him uncovered within the closing laps.
Waiting for Austin, Leclerc was cautious about predicting how the order would possibly shake out, pointing to how tight the sphere has change into throughout the again finish of the season.
“It is such a decent area that it is very, very troublesome for us to foretell,” he stated.
“Sure, in fact, we type of have an concept of how we can be on this observe, however if you find yourself talking about such high quality margins, it depends actually on optimising your package deal, and that has a a lot greater affect than what we anticipate by way of the vehicles.
“The one outlier in the previous couple of races is that possibly we anticipated Mercedes to be additional forward than they really had been.
“In the event that they handle to lastly unlock the efficiency that we type of had in thoughts for them in the previous couple of races, then I feel they are going to be additional forward than any others, however in any other case, it is going to be very tight.”
