25/03/2021
NEWS STORY
Recalling his first lap elimination in last year's Sakhir Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc is to be more selective when it comes to choosing his on-track fights.
Courtesy of another amazing performance in qualifying which totally flattered the SF1000, the Monegasque started from the second row of the grid.
However, a first lap clash as he battled (race winner) Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez caused damage that compromised his race and left him struggling to finish a distant 13th.
Aware that he qualified out of position and was never likely to hold on to the position even if he had won that early battle, Leclerc admits that in future he will be more selective when it comes to who he picks fights with.
"Let's wait and see where we are again," he told reporters in Bahrain today, "because I think there are positive signs already from the test and we will see for sure from Saturday onwards.
"I think I will probably choose my fights a little bit better," he added. "Last year, if you take here by example, I was fighting with a Red Bull which wouldn't have been possible to keep behind for the rest of the race.
"So that was a bit silly to have a crash at that point of the race for these types of positions we wouldn't have been able to keep anyway, but many other occasions it helped us achieve much better results.
"I will choose my fights better," he warned, "but if I have to be aggressive at one point to get better results then I will do it.
"As I have done in the past when I've made mistakes, I've always tried to understand why I have done them and tried to not do them again.
"I will still be as motivated to try and do great results and we will have to see where we are at exactly to adapt my aggressivity on track. Of course, I will try not to reproduce these types of mistakes."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Bahrain, here.