“Red Bull” driver Perez overtook qualifying winner Leclair at the start. For a long time he managed to stay at a small but safe distance, but towards the end of the race, Leclair had come very close. However, no real overtaking attempt followed, resulting in Perez’s second win of the season and fourth of his career.
“Every race you lose feels different, but the disappointment remains,” says LeClair. “My speed was very good. Unfortunately I had a bad start and from then on we were chasing. I tried to put a lot of pressure on Sergio, but that way the tires overheat quickly, so I had to back off. So it was difficult to stay close behind him all the time.”
Shortly before the finish, it became known that a possible violation of Perez driving behind the safety car will be investigated. With a five-second penalty looming, which was later awarded, it was important for the leader to win by a larger margin. He did this successfully, pulling away from Leclair in the final laps.
“I was quite surprised because as soon as I was no longer in the gap to use the DRS, the tires on Sergio’s car were in perfect condition and I started to fall behind,” explains LeClair. “Before that, our fight was intense and every mistake could cost a lot. I made some mistakes. I tried to drive as close as possible because I wanted to overtake him on the straight. I couldn’t brake late on the inside before the corners because I didn’t know what condition the asphalt was in at that time. Such I didn’t want to take the risk. There was one episode when I was really close and I thought about overtaking him on the inside of the corner, but I decided that it wouldn’t be worth it. I kept waiting for the opportunity. Unfortunately, it never came.”
Both drivers are competing for second place in the championship. LeClair is still in second place, but just two points ahead of Perez.
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Resources used:
Motorsport.com: F1 News, MotoGP, NASCAR,…
