Charles Leclerc admits he went “too far” in Oscar Piastri F1 clash at Belgian GP

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc has admitted he went “too far” in his defence against Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

Leclerc and Piastri made contact at Les Combes as they battled over third place on the eighth lap of last Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps. 

Piastri was ran out of road by Leclerc when the Monegasque squeezed the McLaren driver as he defended the inside line. 

Miraculously, both drivers were able to continue, but Piastri suffered damage to his car that McLaren believes cost him between two and three tenths per lap for the rest of the race. 

The incident was investigated by the stewards, who ultimately decided to take no further action - to the surprise of many. 

“On the approach to Turn 5, Car 81 moved to overtake Car 16 on the outside,” the FIA stewards’ report read. “Car 81 had some overlap on Car 16 but the front axle of Car 81 was not ahead of the front axle of Car 16 and there was no possibility of Car 81 completing an overtake from that position.

“In the stewards’ determination, Car 16 did not deliberately crowd Car 81 off the edge of the track. Car 16 followed the racing line before the entry to Turn 5 by moving slightly to the left to open up for Turn 5 and side to side contact occurred between the two cars.

“In the circumstances, the stewards determined to take no further action.”

Piastri raised concerns about Leclerc’s driving following the race and felt it had warranted his rival being shown a black-and-white flag. 

“From where I was at, I was on the white line and got squeezed,” Piastri said at Spa. “I think we were firstly very lucky not to have a bigger crash because, you know, we touched wheels in the start of the breaking zone basically.

“But I don't really know where I was supposed to go, so the fact that was no... I'm not saying it needed to be a penalty necessarily, but at least a black-and-white flag or something like that, because if we think that that's fine. 

“I mean, it's one thing having touches like that, but even just the incentive of knowing that you can leave everyone the absolute bare minimum space and get away with it, that's not the nicest place to be, I don't think.”

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Leclerc acknowledged he had overstepped a line. 

“I kind of agree with Oscar, I think,” the Ferrari driver told reporters in Budapest. 

“At the end of the day, my view in the car is that I try to push things to the limit. With Oscar, it was a bit on the other side, so that's probably not the way I want to race all the time. 

“It's also risky for me at the end of the day. You are always trying to leave the smallest place available. That was maybe a bit too far… Sketchy.”