Was Max Verstappen to blame for Charles Leclerc's early first pitstop at Belgian GP?

Max Verstappen might have been responsible for Charles Leclerc's early pitstop at the Belgian GP on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver said that he had removed a visor tear-off during the first lap of the race. Coincidentally, Leclerc, who was right behind Verstappen, had to pit on the second lap to get a visor tear-off removed from his car.

Verstappen was asked if it was his visor tear-off that was responsible for Leclerc's pitstop. He said that he hoped it wasn't his visor that caused the pitstop for the Ferrari man but added that such 'unfortunate' things can happen in 'the pack'.

"Yeah, well, Carlos told me it was a tear-off. I didn't know. I hope it's not mine. But there was a lot of stuff, honestly people… they were all pulling stuff out and it's just super unlucky, to be honest, that that happens."

He continued:

"You're always scared that it happens, especially when you’re in the pack because… especially on a track like this, you are taking them off very quickly, that is your worst nightmare, that these things happen, but yeah, unfortunately they do happen."

While Verstappen went on to win the race, Leclerc only finished sixth after a five-second penalty for overspeeding in the pitlane during a late pitstop. Lamenting on the sequence of events that unfolded for him on the day, the Monagesque rued:

"P9 in Lap 1 then tear off in the brakes that causes front right brake overheating, have to stop to take off the tear off off the brakes, come back to P5, took a 5 seconds penalty for being too quick in pit lane because of a burnt sensor caused by the first issue. Beautiful day!"

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Max Verstappen enjoyed post safety car restart

Max Verstappen said that the post safety car period was his best part of the race at the Belgian GP on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver was P8 at that point but was able to make his way through the field. He said:

"Yeah, after the safety car restart, I would say. The first bit was just too hectic and especially when you … like I said before, with the car we had, you don't want to get damage or whatever because that will be really painful. But then yeah, it was it was nice. I really enjoyed it, passing cars of course, some of them are quite a lot slower than us, so it was quite easy to get them, but you still need to get them as quickly as possible."

He added:

"So that was definitely the nice part of it. And then, of course, when you get to the lead, (it's) about just trying to manage your tyres in the best way possible, you know, being focused on that."

Verstappen now enjoys a 98-point advantage over third-placed Leclerc (186) with only eight races left in the season.