Before arriving in Austin, Charles Leclerc made a brief visit to New York this week, in particular because an employee of the Nice airport in France made him waste precious time, which did not allow him to take his flight to Austin.
To travel to the United States, travelers are required to hold a document entitled “National Interest Exception” (NIE) due to current travel restrictions, which are expected to be lifted for fully vaccinated travelers on November 8.
Before arriving in Austin, a number of grid drivers took time to visit other cities in the United States, Leclerc and his trainer Andrea Ferrari traveled to New York and Milwaukee. Andrea Ferrari posted on Instagram that he and Leclerc took the “Bad plane” before landing in New York and that ” it could have been worse! “, prompting fans on Twitter to joke about the confusion.
Asked about the subject this Thursday afternoon in Austin, Leclerc returned to this story in detail: “It was very cool, but it was not planned. “ said Charles Leclerc this Thursday at a press conference in Austin.
« My NIE was not accepted at the airport so I was unable to catch the original flight so we changed flights and went to New York at the last minute. I managed to spend a day in NYC – it was my first time, which was amazing, what a city! I really, really enjoyed it. “
« And then I went to Milwaukee for the first NBA game of the season, which was crazy with the ceremony of the rings too. It was just an amazing experience, and here I am in Austin, ready to get in the car tomorrow. “
Leclerc explained that he had the correct documents, but an airport official did not know what his exemption was, causing him to miss the original flight.
« It was just a guy at the Nice airport who for some reason didn’t really know what a NIE was, and I got stuck there. “ added Leclerc.
« He only realized a minute before the flight closed that the NIE was OK, but I didn’t have my passenger locator form so I had to stay in Nice. But anyway, that’s okay. With the same papers, I could take a plane to New York, which allowed me to visit this city for the first time. “
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