Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc revealed that Max Verstappen apologised to him after their incident on the opening corner of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Leclerc started in pole position but was quickly forced off the track as his Red Bull rival overtook him, with Verstappen receiving a five-second penalty in the process.<\/p>\n
Verstappen attempted to overtake Leclerc on the opening narrow corner and ended up running wide, forcing Leclerc off the track as he fumed that the starting position should have been immediately given back to him.<\/p>\n
“This needs to be addressed now, it’s a joke if he keeps the position,” yelled the Monegasque driver. But Red Bull decided against immediately handing it back to Leclerc and awaited the stewards’ decision.<\/p>\n
Having kept position, Verstappen was instead handed a time penalty rather than being forced to give the position back to Leclerc. Despite some jostling, the Dutchman ended up on the top spot with Leclerc finishing as runner-up in Nevada, but he did receive an apology from the race winner.<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive F1 news.<\/strong><\/p>\n JUST IN <\/strong> Lewis Hamilton apologises to Mercedes as Brit reflects on miserable Las Vegas GP[INTERVIEW] <\/strong><\/p>\n “Yeah I already spoke with Max,” Leclerc told Viaplay. “He already told me sorry for the start. He was at the really inside because I squeezed him and I knew that there was no grip there.<\/p>\n “But he still decided to remain there and I expected him to go wide, which he did. I tried to resist on the outside but then he overtook me.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/73\/590x\/secondary\/Charles-Leclerc-Verstappen-Las-Vegas-GP-5073875.jpg?r=1700389637043\")
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