Charles Leclerc voiced his frustration with Max Verstappen after the Ferrari driver believed the Dutchman impeded his final push lap during United States Grand Prix qualifying. Leclerc, who will start third at Circuit of the Americas, was particularly irritated given the context: he had spun on his previous lap and needed a clean final attempt.
Leclerc accused Verstappen—who was on an out lap and ultimately missed getting to the line in time for his own run—of disrupting his lap by lingering ahead on track. Over the Ferrari team radio, Leclerc remarked, “What Max did is… He cannot complain in Singapore when he does the same elsewhere, so… anyway.” His remark referenced the previous Singapore GP, where Verstappen had criticized Lando Norris for interfering with his own qualifying effort due to turbulent air while Norris was on a cooldown lap. Verstappen had said he would “remember” the incident.
Leclerc’s team tried to keep him focused, but the Monegasque—already exasperated by traffic—snapped back when told multiple times to activate DRS: “Yes, yes, yes, yes! Don’t tell me things 10 times, I’m on the DRS.”
In summary, Leclerc highlighted what he perceived as inconsistency in Verstappen’s stance on qualifying etiquette, openly calling him out for “hypocrisy” over incidents at back-to-back grands prix.
