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Leclerc shows interest in Le Mans: "It's a mythical race"

14 June 2020 at 08:42
  • GPblog.com

In addition to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, there was a second Formula 1 driver who participated in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. Charles Leclerc competed in the GTE classification on behalf of Ferrari and was therefore not a direct competitor of his F1 colleagues, but the field is also very competitive there.

"It's good to see how seriously everyone takes it," says Leclerc after his stint against Autosport.com. "It wasn't chaos at the start and everyone pretended it was the real race. That's great to see." Leclerc was used to the virtual Formula 1 races in recent months, where things were often rather rough.

High level approaches the real thing

Leclerc experienced in his second stint that the level is very high during this 24 hour race. He spun when he came out of the pit lane, then faced some technical problems and saw a second place in the GTE ranking go up in smoke. Antonio Giovinazzi, who took over from him, was dead last as a result.

"In real life you have much more feeling with the car. You drive with your ass, as it were, and that feeling isn't here. That makes it a lot harder and some of these drivers are masters in that. So although it is very different, during this period it is closest to the real thing", says Leclerc.

The virtual race has sparked his enthusiasm for the real Le Mans 24 Hours. Even though it has always been a dream to take part in it one day. "I definitely want to participate. "That's something I've always wanted. It's a mythical race and someday I want to be a part of it."