Max Verstappen has given his reaction to Charles Leclerc's crash out of the lead of the French Grand Prix. Leclerc had been in P1 for much of the early stages of the race when he lost the rear of the car and dramatically hit the barriers, immediately putting him out of the running. Following this, Verstappen was heard asking over team radio if the Monegasque was okay, which he fortunately was. Verstappen went on to claim victory, and afterwards reflected on the events of the afternoon.
Verstappen gives reaction to Leclerc crash
"I think we had really good pace from the start,' Verstappen explained. "I was putting pressure on Charles, but following around here with this heat, the tyre is overheating a lot so I couldn't ever really go for a move, only once into Turn 11. "But we just tried to stay calm, tried to stay close, because we pitted a bit earlier. "From there onwards, you never know how the race is going to go, but the car was quick today. "Of course, unlucky for Charles. [I] hope he's okay. From there onwards, I just did my race, looked after the tyres. "Because [with] the pit lane being so long, you couldn't do another stop, so you had to stay out, but the tyres were wearing a lot, so it was all about just looking after the tyres."
Red Bull still have work to do, says Verstappen
When asked if the win felt any different after being denied a battle with Leclerc, Verstappen stated that he focuses on himself. "I always just try to get the most points possible," he added. "Some moves, you have to just back out and wait, maybe for the end of the race, and that's what we did. "There are plenty more races to come where you have to score points. In that aspect, I think today was a great day." With the next race on the calendar – the Hungarian Grand Prix – only one week away, Verstappen feels that Red Bull still have room for improvement. "We still have a bit of work to do over a single lap especially, so we'll just keep working," the Dutchman commented.
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