Charles Leclerc “expected” the post-race penalty he received at the Japanese Grand Prix after seeing video footage.
The Monegasque got a combined 15-second penalty for colliding with Max Verstappen at Turn 2 on the opening lap and then driving around the circuit with a damaged car.
It was for the latter offence which Leclerc got the bigger penalty, 10 seconds, and at the time, Leclerc admitted he took the decision to continue because he wasn’t sure how serious the damage was.
In retrospect, however, he acknowledges he was in the wrong.
“Actually I was quite expecting it once I arrived in stewards room and I saw the images,” he told RaceFans in Mexico. “It would have been wrong to not get a penalty for that.”
As for the earlier contact with Verstappen, the 22-year-old also accepted the blame.
“We had a small discussion before we went into the stewards’ room,” said Leclerc. “He knew I had done a mistake and these things happen.”
Also during those early laps, remarkable footage emerged of Charles taking the once-feared 130R corner one-handed as he tried to hold on to a loose mirror.
Asked on Thursday if he thought that was an example of how easy today’s F1 cars are to drive, he replied: “I don’t share this point of view. I think cars are getting quicker and quicker and the limitation will be different than in the past.
“So it might be that a corner like 130R might not be as difficult for us as it was 10 years ago, but there are a lot more corners that are a lot more difficult now that are a lot quicker.”