Starting on the front row of the g⛄rid,🥃 Leclerc looked to overtake Verstappen into Turn 1.

On the approach to the firᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚst corner, Verstappen pushed Leclerc as wide as poss🍸ible onto the red painted run-off area.

Reflecting on the battl♌e with 🌼Verstappen, Leclerc described it as “on the limit” but said it’s “the way I like to fight”.

“To be honest I would have done exactly the same if I was in his position,” Leclerc said. 🔴“It’s on the🔜 limit but as I’ve always said in the past that’s the way I like to fight. 

“Today didn’t go my way but that’s fine. That’s part of racing but I a🍰m happy with it.”

The afore🍎mentioned battle with Verstappไen compromised Leclerc, allowing Lewis Hamilton to gain the position on Lap 1 and move into second.

“It was nice,” Leclerc added. “I had a good sta꧃rt then I saw a little gap on the left, very little, I tried to go for it and then it was very tight into Turn 1. 

“I unfortunately lost momentum by fighting Max and Lewis could get alongside me. Then I still tried around the outside of Turn 2 which was quite tricky with cold tyres and then getting to Turn 3 there was no 💯way for me to keep going without colliding with 🌃Lewis so I just lifted off. 

“It was ve𒐪ry difficult from that moment onwards because we lost quite a bit in the first lap, then we didn’t have the DRS, then I was just doing my own race. 

“Lewis and Max were too strong, especially﷽ in the first few laps, then towards the end we were more on the pace of Lewꦏis but it was too late.”