Why Charles Leclerc really watched Dutch GP from a hill after Antonelli clash

Charles Leclerc revealed he opted to stay on a hill to watch the remainder of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, as it would have been “quite challenging” to pass a grandstand on the way back to the paddock.

Leclerc retired after contact with Kimi Antonelli last time out, with the Mercedes driver having subsequently been handed a penalty alongside offering an apology to the Ferrari driver, in the wake of the incident.

Charles Leclerc explains hill viewpoint at Zandvoort

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Leclerc‘s damage following a shunt from Antonelli was enough to see him out of the race at Zandvoort, but found himself in the infield section of the circuit for the remainder of the race.

While drivers are able to receive a recovery service back to the pit lane at most circuits, Leclerc revealed it was “just not possible” in the Netherlands without passing a grandstand, which will have been full of fans at the time. Naturally, that would have slowed down his return to the pit lane quite significantly.

With that in mind, he opted to stay and watch the rest of the race from a unique vantage point, with pictures of the Ferrari driver quickly circulating online as the Scuderia suffered a double DNF.

“Was it fun? I’m not sure,” Leclerc replied to PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and others at Monza.

“I mean, it was nice to be able to at least watch the race from somewhere, but obviously, I was quite depressed after what happened, and as a team, to not score any points was disappointing.

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“I think everybody is working towards letting us get back to the paddock whenever there’s something [incidents], but on some tracks, it’s just not possible.

“The only way for me to get back to the paddock was to pass by a grandstand, which I think will have been quite challenging, so I just decided to wait there, which I think was the right choice.

“Luckily enough, there was at least a hill. So with all the bad luck we’ve had, at least I stopped at the right place on track to have a good viewpoint. But yeah, I would rather have stayed in the race.”

Leclerc and Ferrari will be hoping to put on a performance this weekend at Monza, however, with the Monégasque driver having won last year’s Italian Grand Prix – his second at Ferrari’s home race as a member of the Scuderia.

After the difficulties the team faced last time out, Leclerc is hopeful that a home race for his team will be a fruitful one.

“I hope I’m right, but I’m kind of convinced it will be a better weekend compared to Zandvoort, because Zandvoort was a very difficult one for us,” he explained.

“I think those very long corners, we seem to be struggling at. It’s not new, it’s been something over the years where we’ve been struggling more than others in those kind of corners.

“Here in Monza, it should be better, because at least the long corners are high speed, and when the long corners are low speed, that’s where we struggle, so I think we shall be better this weekend.

“I don’t think that means we’ll be at the level of McLaren. I still think McLaren is the team to beat, but we’ll be closer, I hope.”

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