Leclerc reveals ‘misjudgement’ in Azerbaijan race loss

Charles Leclerc has conceded he made a “misjudgement” in his battle with Oscar Piastri for the lead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Following the only pit stop phase of the race, Piastri made an overtake stick on Leclerc into the opening corner.

The move would prove to be crucial as Piastri went on to win the race ahead of Leclerc, who couldn’t pull back ahead of the McLaren driver despite several attempts to do so.

When asked what the key difference between the two cars was, Leclerc told media including RacingNews365: “We ran two different configurations. 

“Obviously, they had, I think, a lower downforce package. We had a bit more downforce, which made us quite quick in the castle section.

“However, in all the straights they were flying. And that’s probably where I lost the race.”

Leclerc revealed he strategically made the overtake easy for Piastri in a bid to use DRS and the slipstream to get back past later in the race.

“I misjudged that,” he said. “And when Oscar overtook me into Turn 1, I was not too worried. 

“I just wanted to stay within the DRS, keep my tyres, and attempt an overtake later on. 

“However, this opportunity never really arose again, just because we were too slow in the straights. Yeah, that was a small misjudgement, which had a big consequence. 

“So sometimes it hurts, and it does today. But it’s the way it is.”