Nearly a week after the Belgian GP, Round 10 of the 2026 F1 season, Charles Leclerc opened up about his wheel-to-wheel clash with Oscar Piastri during the race. Despite contact between the two and visible frustration from McLaren’s #81 driver, Race Control opted against penalizing the Monegasque, who has now conceded that the move “went a bit too far.”
During the race at Spa-Francorchamps, Piastri attempted a move around the outside of Ferrari’s #16 into Les Combes at the end of the Kemmel Straight. Leclerc refused to yield room, resulting in contact that inflicted aerodynamic damage on the Woking-based car. Leclerc walked away without penalty or warning.
The incident infuriated Piastri, who reported a significant loss of downforce due to the damage and claimed he was forced off, adding that both drivers were “very lucky not to have a much bigger crash.”
Now in Budapest for the Hungarian GP, Round 11 of the season, Leclerc acknowledged that he has no desire to engage in such close-quarters wheel-to-wheel battles constantly, given the inherent risk to his own race. As a result, he admitted that their duel at Spa crossed the line slightly.
“I agree in part with Oscar. At the end of the day, from my perspective, I always try to push everything right to the limit. I think, in Oscar’s case, it ended up going slightly over that limit. So that’s probably not the kind of battle I want to be having all the time. Ultimately, it carries a lot of risk for me as well,” Leclerc commented.
“You always try to leave the absolute absolute minimum amount of space possible. Perhaps, this time, it went a bit too far,” he concluded.
Formula 1 returns July 24–26 in Budapest, host of the Hungarian GP, Round 11 of the 2026 season.
