The Ferrari driver had began from pole however didn’t make a superb getaway, as he discovered himself underneath assault from Crimson Bull duo Max Verstappen and Perez.
Verstappen was charging to his proper down the within, whereas Perez had extra momentum as he slipstreamed previous on the left and tried to swoop into the lead because the automobiles ran three abreast into the primary nook.
However there was not sufficient room for all of them and Perez got here off worst as his left rear tangled with Leclerc’s entrance left, pitching the Crimson Bull up within the air earlier than he spun down the escape street.
Whereas Perez was in a position to proceed and dive into the pits, the staff found an excessive amount of harm to the automotive and needed to retire him.
Eventual third-place finisher Leclerc was clearly not too widespread after the race when, throughout the post-race interviews, he was closely jeered by the native followers.
However he defended himself by making it clear that, being sandwiched between the 2 Crimson Bulls, he has no room for manoeuvre to keep away from a collision.
“Loads of booing…guys,” he mentioned in response to the group. “I imply, truthfully, I had nowhere to go.
“I used to be a bit in between the 2 Crimson Bulls and sadly I touched Checo, however I had nowhere to go. So, it is life.
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Sergio Perez, Crimson Bull Racing RB19, Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing RB19, Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, the remainder of the sphere at the beginning
“It broken my automotive. And sadly, it ended the race of Checo. However yeah, on our finish we maximised our race, so it is life.
“In fact, I am disillusioned to finish the race of Checo like that, however I actually did not do it on function. I had nowhere to go.”
Leclerc admitted that the ultimate stint on the arduous tyres after the purple flag restart had not been very best, because it was clear closest rival Mercedes was faster.
“We struggled just a little bit with the arduous after the restart,” he mentioned.
“Lewis was actually fast on the medium after which they managed to have a extremely good degradation. So yeah, they have been simply higher at this time and it is life.”