Charles Leclerc feels he has unlocked something with his Ferrari car in recent Formula 1 races that ultimately helped him secure a hard-fought podium finish at the United States Grand Prix.
The Monegasque driver put on a stellar performance in Austin as he charged to a brilliant runner-up spot using a two-stop strategy, having successfully hunted down and overtaken Red Bull's Max Verstappen during the closing stages of the race.
Leclerc revealed after the chequered flag dropped that he had recently achieved a major breakthrough regarding how best to set up and drive his Ferrari machinery, which received a fresh batch of upgrades in Texas.
Whether I can convert that into a win is a bit difficult to predict, because it's such fine margins, and it also depends on what the upgrade plans of the others are in upcoming races, Leclerc said after finishing second.
But the feeling with the car is getting better and better. These cars are very specific and unique, and I feel like, over the last two or three races, I've unlocked something again in terms of driving, and particularly set-up with my driving.
Just both together, we've taken a step forward, and I just feel much more comfortable with the car. So I hope that this will result in a win soon. Whether it's in Singapore or here in Austin, we were quite close, so I'm confident that we'll have a shot to win a race before the end of the season.
Despite the joy of the podium, it proved to be an underlying frustrating weekend overall for the Italian squad. The Maranello-based outfit looked heavily like the team to beat after topping the timesheets across all three practice sessions.
However, Ferrari’s raw performance dramatically faded when it mattered most in qualifying, leaving Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton stranded on the second and third rows of the grid in fourth and fifth respectively.
Once again, Leclerc was left rueing Ferrari’s execution after demonstrating formidable race pace on Sunday afternoon. I mean, if you look at FP1, FP2 and FP3, we were very strong, he explained.
If you look at qualifying, at the end of the day in Q3, it was extremely difficult to bring the tyres up to temperature, and we probably lost a shot at the victory right there. But today Kimi Antonelli was very strong, so, yeah, as a whole weekend, I think we're just not robust enough.
Leclerc further noted: I kept asking my engineer what the pace of Kimi was, but I was probably a bit too optimistic. I still wanted to give it a shot, but, yeah, I probably lost a bit too much time fighting Max and Lando Norris. Even with free air, I don't think I would have got to Kimi. He was just too quick today.
The crucial result elevates Leclerc to fifth place in the drivers’ championship standings, though he firmly remains locked in an intense battle for second overall. He currently sits just nine points behind George Russell, who occupies P2.
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