Autosport has reported:

Charles Leclerc finished second to Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix after missing what he believes was a later chance to challenge the Red Bull driver. Leclerc said he did not regret his opening-lap attempt to take the lead, but acknowledged that he could have responded differently when Verstappen experienced electrical deployment problems in the first three laps.

Leclerc had a better launch and took the inside line approaching Turn 1. Many in the media centre thought the Ferrari driver should have held his position to move ahead, but Verstappen was on the outside, following the usual racing line, which offered slightly more grip. The Dutchman was also prepared to accept the risks involved in defending his position.

A day before the race, Verstappen had told Autosport that finishing second or third in the drivers’ championship meant nothing to him. His focus, he said, was on going all-in for race wins. That willingness to take risks was part of the contest, though Leclerc said it was not the main reason he could not complete the pass.

The braking reference boards, including those marking 150 metres and 100 metres, are on the right side of the approach to Turn 1. Because Leclerc was alongside Verstappen, he could not see them and had to judge his braking point by instinct. He said he tried to assess it as well as he could and concluded: “I would have done exactly the same.”

Leclerc did, however, say he had let a later opening slip away. Verstappen appeared to be managing his pace early in the race to preserve his tyres, but he said after the race that this was not wholly deliberate. “We had a few laps with some deployment issues, so that's where Charles actually almost got me into Turn 7.”

The problem meant Verstappen was not receiving all the electrical power at the points where he needed it. Arvid Lindblad, driving for Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls, which uses the same power unit, also reported an issue. “Yeah, I also had issues with the PU, which we're trying to look after. I was getting driven past on the straights and the engine braking was really bad, which wasn't easy to drive”, Lindblad said.

For Verstappen, the deployment trouble was limited to the opening stages of the Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc said there were several chances in the first three laps when he could have tried to take advantage, but he assumed each loss of power was a one-off. “There were a few opportunities in the first three laps when Max had the deployment issues, but I always thought that it was a one-off, so I wasn't really using my battery, which maybe was a mistake”, Leclerc said.

Because he did not expect the issue to recur, Leclerc did not adjust his own deployment strategy. When he recognized that Verstappen had no power at the end of the straight, he said there was no longer time to respond. “When I was realising that he had no power at the end of the straight, I couldn't do anything. It was too late for me to use my power.”

It remained uncertain whether an earlier move would have altered the final result. Track position is particularly important at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, and leading would have spared Leclerc from spending as much time in dirty air. He said the advantage might have helped during the first stint, while also recognizing the pace of Verstappen and Red Bull’s tyre management. “I don't know if it would have changed much. Of course, for the first stint it would have helped, but I think eventually they just had too much pace for us.”

Leclerc made another attempt late in the race with a different strategy, making a second stop under the virtual safety car. A second win of the season, following his victory at Silverstone, remained out of reach, and he crossed the line in second place. He described the result as positive in light of Ferrari’s recent pace, while saying Verstappen had been faster in the race.

“I’m happy, but not super happy. I mean, second place is a good result considering the tendency that we've had lately, where we were lacking just a little bit of pace,” Leclerc said. “I feel like, particularly in qualifying yesterday, we had strong pace. Today in the race, Max had a bit more pace than we did, which was expected, but maybe we were a little bit closer than what we expected.”

Leclerc said he kept believing a win was possible until the finish. “It was a cool race and I believed in it until the very end, but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.” The runner-up finish gave him his first podium since the summer break and his fifth overall in the Formula 1 season.