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Charles Leclerc revealed Mercedes employed a unique strategy, as George Russell tried to throw him off during the Japanese Grand Prix.
Leclerc managed to finish P3 at the Japanese Grand Prix, securing his second podium finish this season after a great race.
However, things were not easy for Leclerc, who had to fend off George Russell multiple times during the race, including near the end.
No Mercedes one-two in Japan!
Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third
Lewis Hamilton was frustrated with Leclerc’s seeming advantage during the race, as he felt Leclerc benefited from more power than he did.
However, Charles Leclerc had issues of his own that needed to be addressed, with George Russell and Mercedes choosing to play mind games with him and his Ferrari race engineer.
READ MORE: Charles Leclerc’s Japanese GP qualifying data clearly shows F1 need to make further rule changes
Charles Leclerc reveals Mercedes and George Russell tried to trick Ferrari over race strategy
Charles Leclerc spoke after the Japanese Grand Prix about the challenges he faced during the race, with the strangest one coming thanks to George Russell.
Leclerc revealed that Russell and his engineer intentionally misrepresented their strategy to confuse Ferrari, and while he didn’t fall for it, his lapse near the end almost cost him the race.
“They (George and his engineer) were also being quite cheeky. His engineer was telling him things on the radio, my engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling him, but he was doing then the opposite.”
“That put me into quite a bit of pressure at one point. I think they told me, ‘Oh, he’s being told to use everything in the back straight,’ or maybe in the main straight, and he was doing the opposite of that. So, I understood pretty quickly and could defend, but at one point I got surprised in the last corner.”
While Leclerc didn’t seem to be too annoyed by the situation, he did realise that the gap between Ferrari and Mercedes had waned a little bit.
READ MORE: Charles Leclerc says Ferrari are reporting their ‘absurd’ qualifying problem to the FIA
Who was your Driver of the Day from the Japanese Grand Prix?
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Charles Leclerc reflects on Mercedes gap not being as much as he expected
Charles Leclerc also spoke to Sky Sports about the battle he had with Mercedes. While Ferrari struggled against Mercedes, he did admit that their pace wasn’t too far off theirs, and they must work to reduce the gap even further.
“I don’t regret much. I think it was still a good race. Are we as far as what we’ve seen today compared to Mercedes? I don’t think so, but they still have a big advantage, and it’s up to us to try and change that situation.”
Despite Antonelli’s win in Suzuka, the Japanese Grand Prix served as proof that teams can compete with Mercedes and come out on top.
With George Russell failing to secure a podium, there is a possibility for other teams to find success this season.
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