MOSCOW, Jul 24 Winner of the 12th round of the Formula 1 championship — French Grand Prix Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said that the fight in the race for him ended after the retirement of the leading Charles Leclerc from Ferrari. Verstappen scored his seventh victory of the season on Sunday. «I was pressing Leclerc. In this heat, the tires were overheating, so I couldn't overtake. I had only one opportunity on the lap. I tried to stay calm, stay close. We pitted earlier, but after that we didn't knew how the race would go. The car was fast today. Charles was unlucky, I hope everything is fine with him. After his retirement, I only had to look after the condition of the tires. Due to the fact that the pit lane is long, to spend the second pit stop was not possible, I had to stay on the track, tire wear was getting worse, my task was save them until the finish line,» Verstappen said after the race. Reigning world champion Verstappen leads the overall standings with 233 points. Leclerc has 170 points left.
