Charles Leclerc admitted it was “frustrating” to retire from the United States Grand Prix after being hit on the opening lap by the Haas F1 Team of Romain Grosjean.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team driver started ninth after a strong qualifying at the Circuit of the America’s and felt the potential was there for a points finish this weekend.
“It is frustrating to finish the race like this. It was clear that the potential was there to achieve a good result, especially after starting from ninth.”
Grosjean locked up in the breaking zone for turn 12 and spun Leclerc round, damaging the car enough for the team to have retire a few laps later.
“After the incident on the first lap, the car was just too damaged for us to extract enough performance to allow us to be competitive enough to race properly – even after changing the nose and tyres just after it happened.”
Leclerc feels that despite the disappointment of scoring no points this weekend, the car does have the potential to be quick next weekend in Mexico.
“In the end, I had to retire from the race early, which is a shame.
“Our performance was strong this weekend, and we will take that with us to Mexico and build on it.”
