Charles Leclerc: Nice to be back on the podium!

Charles Leclerc finished second in Austria to give Ferrari its 800th podium in team history. For the Monegask himself, the result of the race in Spielberg was the best of the season.

His teammate Carlos Sainz battled with Sergio Perez for third place, but shortly before the finish he could not hold back the Mexican and finished fourth.

Charles Leclerc (2nd): “I believe we reached the maximum on Friday and today. Unlike Saturday, I had a pace today. Great to be back on stage! The novelties prepared by the team have allowed me to feel the car better in such conditions, which is good for the future.

The team did a great job preparing these new items ahead of schedule. However, it is clear that we still have a lot to do, because Max and Sergio are very fast.

We have serious problems when we are chasing another car, so I tried to stay longer on an empty track. However, we knew it was going to be difficult for me to keep Max behind given his lead in race pace. I did everything in my power, but it wasn’t enough. However, it is great to be back on the podium, especially after all the problems we had in the last few races.

The next race will be at Silverstone circuit, which is one of my favorite stationary circuits along with the Austrian one. Normally we do well in the UK and I hope we take advantage of the new products and Red Bull can take on a bigger fight.”

Carlo Sainz (4th): “Not in the first pit stop, I lost six or seven seconds and three positions by spending the entire first segment behind Charles. I believe I showed myself as a team player because I stayed behind my teammate. Because of this I lost a lot of time during the pit stop and three positions. We could have worked differently, and the realization of this saddens me.

I lost a lot of time trying to make up. I bounced back quite quickly, but I overstepped the limits of the track, which partially affected my race.

When the virtual safety car mode kicked in I was in the ninth corner and couldn’t get into the pit lane again, so the decision to stay on track was the right one. But was it right to retire on the next lap after switching off the virtual safety car mode? We need to analyze this.

I don’t want to say that the team owes me anything. I did my job as best I could. At the moment I fly very well and very fast every weekend. I attacked and defended today, but I’m disappointed with the result.”