Charles Leclerc has said he will ask for answers from the Japanese GP stewards as to why Kevin Magnussen wasn’t penalised for blocking as he tried to pass.
The Monegasque had pulled out to slipstream by the Dane on the main straight but as he did so, Magnussen also moved across leaving the Sauber driver nowhere to go but into the back of his car.
Debris from the contact and a resulting puncture for the Haas driver required a Safety Car to be cleared away as the stewards decided there was no further action as no driver was “predominantly to blame”.
“For me, there was a similar situation with Kimi [Raikkonen] and Max [Verstappen] one or two years ago in Spa,” Leclerc said after declaring him “stupid” moments after the collision.
“Max moved at the really last moment and then everyone agreed that it was dangerous to do that and that it was not allowed anymore.
“Strangely it has been accepted today. I am going to have to get some response on that to try to know what I can do in the car.”
Dropping to the back of the field after a nose change, the 20-year-old had to fight through but would eventually retire not long after his second pit-stop when he ran off track at the Degner corners.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ⚠️ (LAP 40/53)
Charles Leclerc goes off at Degner, and pulls off to retire ?#JapaneseGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/FRiypGDluR
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 7, 2018
“We are not sure whether it comes from the front left or the rear right as it is not completely clear so we will have to analyse that,” he said after claiming “something broke” over the radio.
“Just a shame because at the end, while I don’t think we will have scored points today, it would have been nice to finish after such a tough race.
“For me it as quite fun to do some overtaking so it was fun to see but yeah, it is a shame.”
