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Leclerc: I'm to blame for Verstappen crash

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc says he is completely to blame for his clash with Max Verstappen that earned him a penalty and wrecked his Japanese Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90 and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB15 battle

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90 and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB15 battle

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Leclerc had a slow start from second on the grid and was passed by Verstappen on the outside into Turn 1, then misjudged his speed into Turn 2 and ran wide into the Red Bull.

The clash forced Verstappen off-track and damage forced him to retire early in the race, while Leclerc eventually pit for a new front wing and recovered to sixth before penalties for the contact and staying out too long with damage dropped him to seventh.

Leclerc said: "I had a poor start. I got a little bit distracted, I saw Seb moving a little bit [when poleman Vettel jumped forward before the lights went out] and then my reaction time was very poor.

"The start was not so bad but the reaction was very poor.

"And with Max I just did a mistake, clearly. I was on the inside and being behind Seb and Lewis I lost the front a little bit.

"Normally you need to anticipate those things and I didn't. Yep, I'm the one to blame."

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Leclerc continued with a broken front wing until the third lap, which meant his damaged car initially scattered debris to those behind – and also damaged his left wing mirror.

Footage showed Leclerc physically hold his mirror in place on the run to 130R and then taking the corner one-handed.

It eventually fell off completely, but Leclerc said there was no significant impact on his car's performance once he had a new front wing.

"From a driving point of view I was losing a bit more the front," he said. "Overall I don't think it was costing too much. Mostly because it was giving understeer.

"If it had affected the rear of the car I would have lost quite a lot more but that's it."

Initially, the Leclerc/Verstappen clash was noted but deemed unworthy of investigation.

A few laps later, the stewards opted to overturn the original decision.

FIA race director Michael Masi explained: "Some new evidence became available which they didn't have available at the time, and they chose to effectively reopen the investigation.

"With what was available to them originally, they made a determination that there was no investigation necessary.

"Then they got some other footage which they didn't have and were well within their rights [to reconsider because] there was a new element, and they've reopened it."

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