Previous championship leader, the Scuderia driver was leading the race alone, far ahead of his pursuers, Briton George Russell (Mercedes) and Verstappen, then in the fight for second place, when he suffered a an engine problem.
"I lost engine power, and from there I had to stop (...) It's like that, it happens, since the beginning of the year we haven't had only one problem", reacted Leclerc to the microphone of Canal +.
If the situation "hurts, there are still plenty of positives, we managed to solve the problems of tire degradation, it was really the answer we were looking for", he tempered.
On the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit in Montmelo, Verstappen won the 24th success of his career and the fourth this season, after the GPs of Saudi Arabia, Emilia Romagna in Italy and Miami.
In Catalan lands, he is ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, second, and Russell.
The Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who started third but got off to a bad start, grabbed fourth place and saved the day for Ferrari, which lost the championship lead to Red Bull.
Starting in 5th place on the grid, Briton Lewis Hamilton suffered a collision with the Haas of Dane Kevin Magnussen (starting 8th) at the start of the race, an incident which led the two drivers to return to the pits.
He still signs 5th place... and the return of the Mercedes in the race?
© 2022 AFP