Max Verstappen called Charles Leclerc’s crash “unlucky” after he claimed victory at the French Grand Prix.
The two drivers had run nose-to-tail in the first stint at Paul Ricard before the reigning world champion pitted to attempt the undercut.
However, a handful of laps later, Leclerc took himself out of the equation with a spin into the barrier at Le Beausset, leaving Verstappen free to claim a seventh win in 2022.
“I think we had really good pace from the start,” the Red Bull driver said post-race.
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“I was putting pressure on Charles but following around here with this heat, the tyres were overheating a lot so I could never really go for a move, only once into turn 11.
“But we just tried to stay calm, tried to stay close.
“Of course, we pitted a bit earlier and from there onward, you never know how the race is going to go but the car was quick today.
“It was unlucky for Charles, I hope he is ok, and from there onward I just did my race, and looked after the tyres.”
While unable to make a proper overtaking attempt on Leclerc during the first stint, Verstappen did think the battle was a positive reflection of the new regulations for 2022.
“What is good is that we were attacking and we could stay very close on a track that is difficult to follow,” he said.
LAP 11/53
So close yet so far for @Max33Verstappen ??
These two are certainly keeping us on our toes so far! #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bHO2xWArrS
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
“When you are driving on your own already the tyres are overheating, so to be in the DRS for that long is very promising.
“Of course, he [Leclerc] pulled away towards the end, but that is normal when you are trying to stay close and the tyres are wearing.
“It would have been a good battle to the end unfortunately we didn’t get to that. Luckily, Charles is okay,” Max added.
“I feel sorry for him but he knows that we still have a lot of races to go and there could be a tough few races for us.”
And despite now having a 63-point lead in the championship, Verstappen is not resting on his laurels.
“We still have a lot of work to do over one lap,” he said. “I also don’t expect Hungary to be our best track, because we are lacking a bit of downforce compared to Ferrari and that is what you need there.
“We will face a tough few weekends as well.”
Back-to-back in Le Castellet ? #FrenchGP ?? pic.twitter.com/SDvQRXwHZv
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 24, 2022
And one tool that the Red Bull driver is keen to exercise is patience as he showed on Sunday.
“I always just try to get the most points possible and of course, some moves you see they are on and you just have to back out and wait maybe for the end of the race,” he explained.
“And that is what we did. There are plenty more races to come where you have to score points so, in that aspect, I think it was a great day.”