Leclerc's radio sheds light on Verstappen clash · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen was infuriated at losing a position to Charles Leclerc at the restart of the Spanish Grand Prix and complained his rival made contact with him.

The stewards looked into the incident and cleared both drivers, noting each had moved towards the other at different points as Leclerc passed the Red Bull.

However Leclerc’s radio messages earlier in the race show this was not the first time during the race he squeezed his rival on the straight. It followed an exchange of radio messages with his race engineer Bryan Bozzi instructing him which line to take on the straight.

Later in the race Bozzi also repeatedly urged Leclerc to perform more “lift-and-coast” at the end of the main straight. Teams often do this to save fuel or reduce running temperatures, but Leclerc was unhappy at the persistent messages he received telling him to back off.

The race turned out well for Leclerc, however, and after taking the chequered flag he reflected positively on the team’s decision to sacrifice its pace in qualifying to have more fresh tyres for the race. “It did pay off,” he said.

Selected Leclerc radio messages from the Spanish Grand Prix

“We are losing time”“If I go on the right, I’ll have marbles on my tyres”“I tried to push him as much as I could in the marbles”“Everyone’s fine?”“That’s probably the main reason for our s*** pace”“Max ahead has fitted a hard”“I know why the last part of the race was poor”

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“We are losing time”

Leclerc started the race behind team mate Lewis Hamilton but was soon on his tail.

He spent five consecutive laps within DRS range of his team mate and was clearly unimpressed at how long Ferrari took to swap their positions. As he pointed out, he had compromised his performance in qualifying to save another set of tyres for the race and could ill afford to waste time behind his team mate.

Lap: 3/66 LEC: 1’20.725

Bozzi
Russell 0.8 behind, Hamilton 1.2 ahead.

Lap: 4/66 LEC: 1’20.750

Bozzi
Russell no DRS behind.

Bozzi
And reminder to keep using [lift-and-coast]. Russell 1.5 behind.

Lap: 7/66 LEC: 1’21.722

Leclerc
We are losing time.

Bozzi
Copy.

Leclerc
Happy to go to plan A?

Bozzi
Switch position yellow.

Lap: 8/66 LEC: 1’21.841

Bozzi
And we need to increase li-co for tyres and diff mid plus one, diff mid plus one.

Lap: 9/66 LEC: 1’22.127

Bozzi
How much faster could you go, question? Piastri 20.8.

Leclerc
Guys I’m sacrificing my quali to be fast in the race, it’s not to then slow us down in the race. So, yeah, you choose. How much faster can I go? I can only tell you if I have free air. I’m stuck to his gearbox.

Bozzi
We swap the cars on the main straight, Charles, swap the car on the main straight.

Lap: 10/66 LEC: 1’21.028

Bozzi
And [state of charge] six.

“If I go on the right, I’ll have marbles on my tyres”

Within the space of three laps, Bozzi gave Leclerc two different instructions on his line to take on the main straight. First he told him to stay left, then he told him to go further to the right.

Leclerc asked the team whether they wanted him to avoid the tyre ‘marbles’ which were beginning to build up off the racing line. Soon afterwards he made his first pit stop, switching from the soft tyres he started the race on to the first of his new sets of mediums.

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Lap: 12/66 LEC: 1’21.086

Bozzi
And stay to the left on the main straight, to the left.

Lap: 14/66 LEC: 1’21.341

Bozzi
Back to the previous line on the main straight, please. Piastri, 21.0, Verstappen pitted.

Lap: 17/66 LEC: 1’25.153

Bozzi
And full push, full push please.

Leclerc
That’s what I’m doing already, there’s no more than that.

Bozzi
And box Charles Box, flap update.

Bozzi
And watch, stay to the right of the bollard.He pits

Lap: 18/66 LEC: 1’39.171

Bozzi
You will be racing Lawson out of the pits.

Lap: 20/66 LEC: 1’20.775

Leclerc
On right in the main straight and marbles or normal, no marbles?

Bozzi
Normal, no marbles.

Leclerc
No marbles? I mean, you need to tell me. If I go on the right, I’ll have marbles on my tyres.

Bozzi
Avoid marbles.

Lap: 22/66 LEC: 1’19.918

Leclerc
He stays left on the main straightMuch better.

Bozzi
Copy.

Lap: 23/66 LEC: 1’19.467

Bozzi
Easy on traction.

Lap: 25/66 LEC: 1’19.611

Leclerc
How is the medium compared to the soft?

Lap: 26/66 LEC: 1’19.983

Bozzi
Pace is good. Keep going.

Leclerc
That’s not my question. Medium…

Bozzi
InterruptsIt’s better than soft. Better than soft.

Leclerc
Okay, good.

Bozzi
And a little bit more [lift-and-coast] in the corners.

Lap: 27/66 LEC: 1’19.981

Bozzi
Some debris turn two. Verstappen 20.4 on soft, 19.9 Piastri on medium.

“I tried to push him as much as I could in the marbles”

Verstappen made his second pit stop early and fell behind Leclerc. When he came past the Ferrari driver on the main straight, Leclerc pulled to the right, trying to make sure his rival went as far through the marbles as possible. He mentioned this to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris after the race.

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Lap: 31/66 LEC: 1’20.085

Leclerc
Verstappen is on a three-stop?

Lap: 32/66 LEC: 1’20.007

Bozzi
He might be, we’ll let you know. And check the numbers on your dash, please keep doing [lift-and-coast].

Lap: 36/66 LEC: 1’21.159

Bozzi
Verstappen with DRS.Verstappen passes him

Leclerc
I tried to push him as much as I could in the marbles but too fast for now.

Bozzi
Focus on your pace.

Lap: 37/66 LEC: 1’21.111

Leclerc
Rear tyres are starting to go.

Lap: 38/66 LEC: 1’20.825

Bozzi
Piastri 20.5.

“Everyone’s fine?”

When Leclerc made his second pit stop he was briefly concerned he had accelerated away too quickly and might have injured a member of his pit crew. Bozzi reassured him all was well.

But Leclerc would have been less happy with the rest of Bozzi’s messages, as the calls to lift and coast became increasingly urgent:

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Lap: 40/66 LEC: 1’25.756

Bozzi
Driver default delta zero on. Hamilton 20.5

Leclerc
Guys, my rear tyres are fucked.

Leclerc
Consider…

Bozzi
InterruptsAnd box, Charles, box. Let me know on flap.

Leclerc
Okay, minus two.

Leclerc
He enters the pitsBox.

Bozzi
Copy, Box.

Lap: 41/66 LEC: 1’38.564

Leclerc
I released the clutch a bit too early. Everyone’s fine?

Bozzi
All fine, all fine. Antonelli close to you.

Bozzi
26 laps to the end, three laps more than previous stint.

Lap: 42/66 LEC: 1’19.354

Bozzi
And driver default delta zero on.

Lap: 43/66 LEC: 1’19.570

Bozzi
And we need 50 metre [lift-and-coast] into turn one for lap… More than previous lap.

Lap: 44/66 LEC: 1’19.321

Bozzi
And we need more [lift-and-coast] turn one please, can cancel turn 10, only turn one.

Lap: 45/66 LEC: 1’19.181

Bozzi
And keep doing this [lift-and-coast] turn one to the end.

Lap: 46/66 LEC: 1’19.877

Bozzi
Diff entry and mid plus one. We need [lift-and-coast] turn one.

Lap: 51/66 LEC: 1’19.815

Bozzi
Engine braking minus one.

That’s probably the main reason for our s*** pace

Leclerc was clearly less happy with his pace on his second set of medium tyres compared to the first. He complained about the stiffness of the ride as well as the amount of lifting and coasting the team demanded.

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Lap: 52/66 LEC: 1’19.831

Leclerc
The car is so stiff on this run. So stiff.

Bozzi
We need more [lift-and-coast] turn one.

Leclerc
That’s probably the main reason for our shit pace, by the way.

Lap: 53/66 LEC: 1’19.674

Bozzi
14 laps to go, 14.

Bozzi
More [lift-and-coast] turn one, all laps.

Lap: 54/66 LEC: 1’19.826

Bozzi
Diff mid plus one.

“Max ahead has fitted a hard”

The Safety Car’s arrival handed Leclerc an opportunity. While he had saved tyres for the race, Verstappen had burned through his, and had to switch to a set of hard tyres for the final stint. Bozzi continued to demand more lift-and-coast, but told Leclerc he didn’t need to do it when he was using DRS.

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Lap: 55/66 LEC: 1’41.931

Bozzi
Bortoleto unlaps himself from Leclerc at turn oneAnd Bortoleto on a new soft. Up to you if want to let him go.

Bozzi
The Safety Car is deployedAnd box Charles, box.

Leclerc
Copy, box.

Bozzi
And let me know for flap

Leclerc
Minus four.

Bozzi
The delta [unclear]

Leclerc
Box, I cannot hear you, I cannot hear you.He pits

Lap: 56/66 LEC: 2’07.848

Bozzi
Watch your mirrors. So, Max ahead has fitted a hard.

Lap: 57/66 LEC: 2’07.268

Leclerc
So tyres in front? What is everybody on?

Bozzi
Scrubbed soft, Piastri and Norris. New hard, Verstappen. Russell behind scrubbed, Hamilton scrubbed, Hadjar, scrubbed.

Lap: 58/66 LEC: 2’03.766

Bozzi
And for your reference in DRS, okay no [lift-and-coast]. With no DRS we need [lift-and-coast] into turn one, all laps.

Leclerc
Even restart lap?

Bozzi
Restart lap okay not to. Other laps if no DRS we need [lift-and-coast]. Eight laps to go when you cross the line. Lappers should still need to un-lap themselves.

“I know why the last part of the race was poor”

When Leclerc pounced on his opportunity to pass Verstappen, the Red Bull driver repaid his favour from earlier, squeezing the Ferrari onto the marbles. As Leclerc drew ahead he moved back towards the cleaner line and the pair briefly touched.

The stewards took a dim view of this, noting it “could potentially have resulted in a major crash”, but decided neither was more to blame than the other.

As soon as Leclerc exited the last corner, Bozzi urged him to lift off once he took the chequered flag. Neither Ferrari driver had been happy with their pace in the final stint, but as he drove back in Leclerc told Bozzi he knew why they hadn’t been competitive at the end.

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Lap: 60/66 LEC: 2’00.826

Bozzi
Verstappen 1.2 behind.

Lap: 61/66 LEC: 1’17.547

Bozzi
We need [lift-and-coast] into turn one. Verstappen 1.3.

Lap: 63/66 LEC: 1’17.609

Bozzi
Verstappen no DRS 1.1. We need [lift-and-coast] turn one.

Leclerc
Okay, okay, okay. Fucking shit, though.

Bozzi
Verstappen 1.2.

Lap: 64/66 LEC: 1’18.130

Bozzi
Verstappen 1.1, he’s been asked to let Russell through, I’ll update you.

Bozzi
Verstappen 0.8