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2023 FIA Formula One World Championship
2023 Brazilian Grand Prix
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sunday, 5 November 2023
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will be targeting a strong finish to the season, starting with the
Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, November 5.
The Monegasque had hoped to build on a promising 2022 which saw him win three races before eventually finishing second in the Drivers' Championship standings.
However, Leclerc has struggled to replicate that form this term and often found himself behind team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. in the race classification, with the gap between the two standing at 17 points.
The 26-year-old managed to finish ahead of Sainz Jr. in 10 of the 19 races, the most recent of which came in the Mexican Grand Prix when Leclerc took P3 after crossing the start-finish line 4.03 seconds ahead of the Spaniard (P4).
Leclerc was jeered by some Mexican fans after the race for his involvement in the collision with Sergio Perez on Turn 1 of the opening lap, which led to the retirement of the Red Bull Racing driver on his home circuit.
He felt for both 'Checo' and the Mexican's supporters, but insisted there was nowhere else for him to go after being sandwiched between the two Red Bull cars.
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"It was really tight. Checo was on the left, Max was on the right. I tried my best to stay on the right as close as possible to Max but I think Checo didn't know that. Started to turn in and we collided," he told Sky Sports F1.
"It's a bit of a shame that it happened for Checo at his home race. I could hear that many fans were disappointed and I can understand, but on the other hand I couldn't do anything better unfortunately.
"I usually put myself in these situations, and I understand their disappointment because they're very passionate about the sport. They waited a whole year to see Checo, and he's out on the first corner.
"But I would also love for people to be objective. You only need to see the footage from the race to see that I didn't have any space and couldn't go anywhere."
2023 Mexican Grand Prix results:
Winner: Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing
Second Place: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Third Place: Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
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