Charles Leclerc: I spent the race in pleasant solitude

Charles Leclerc, commenting on the results of the American Grand Prix, which ended with Ferrari’s winning double, emphasized that since together with the team they did everything correctly, nothing threatened his advantage.

Question: Charles, you and Ferrari had a great race: let’s start with the joyful emotions associated with this victory…
Charles Leclerc: The emotions are really very joyful, because every victory is a special achievement, but always for its own reasons. It’s clear that I felt very comfortable behind the wheel from the start. Confidence started to build on Saturday and although there were a lot of duels during the sprint, the car made a great impression and we had good pace.

We were more skeptical about the qualifications, but we still managed to achieve a 4th fastest time. It was a good result, although we didn’t reach pole position. But after the start, when I was already in the lead coming out of Turn 1, I knew that the most important thing now was to make full use of the pace the car was capable of and save the tires.
And the SF-24 worked great! After the start I spent the race pretty much alone, but it was a pleasant solitude. I hope we have more races like this in the future.

Q: Can you tell us more about what happened in Turn 1?
Charles Leclerc: I knew that Max Verstappen and Lando Norris would be very aggressive against each other because they were fighting for the title. I had a good start and when I saw that Max, like Lando, was moving to the inside, I thought: “I better get ready to come out of the next corner well.”

It was of course a very right decision and after that I could already concentrate on my own race.

Q: Let’s talk about the pace of the Ferrari SF-24. You were fast all weekend: what results can you expect in the remaining races of the season?
Charles Leclerc: I wish I knew the exact answer to this question, but predicting anything is always difficult because you have to count on a very small advantage that can result in a significant difference in results. In general it is difficult to predict what positions we will have in the next races.

But as we said, the new products we presented in the three previous phases really needed to be tested in Austin. They all seem to be working well, which gives me hope for the future. This does not mean that we will perform like on the American circuit every Sunday, but it does confirm that we are working in the right direction.

Question: Can you name one part of the car where the improvements are most noticeable?
Charles Leclerc: There are many areas like this, but for example five or six races ago we had some problems because of the longitudinal sweep of the car, but now this problem has disappeared. This also confirms that we are on the right track.

Q: What can you say about Ferrari’s position in the Constructors’ Championship, given that your team is only 8 points behind Red Bull Racing, and you are 48 points behind McLaren?
Charles Leclerc: I will say that we must aim to win the Constructors’ Championship. Our mood is optimistic, but that’s how it should be. However, I suggest doing the calculations at the end of the season. Until then, it’s best to focus on your work, on the results, and that’s what we did this weekend.

Q: You talk about Ferrari’s tasks in the Constructors’ Championship, but in the Individual Championship you are 79 points behind Max, which is very difficult to regain in the five remaining stages. But if Max and Lando keep fighting like they did here in Austin, then you might have a chance, don’t you think?
Charles Leclerc: Never say never. As for the Constructors’ Championship, if we do everything perfectly until the end of the season, and if we perform better than McLaren, then I think we can win the championship.

In individual competition the picture is different. Even if we do everything perfectly, we need luck, and we can’t count on that. Therefore, the chance that we can win the title is quite small, but I continue to believe that we can do that as long as there is a mathematical probability. Although here everything is more complicated.

Q: During the race we heard you on the radio discussing different tactics with the engineer. Did you bet on a single pit stop setup from the start, or did it all depend on the size of your lead over Max?
Charles Leclerc: Yes, we have adjusted our plans. But by the 15th or 16th lap we had created a quite noticeable gap, which allowed us to react to Max’s actions and, for example, pit a lap later than him, because he could not get ahead of us by stopping earlier. could get into the pits.

When you’re in a situation like that, it’s a lot less stressful because you’re just following the actions of the rider behind you, and our advantage made that possible.

Q: Ravin Jain, Ferrari’s chief strategist, was on the podium with you. But a few years ago tactics were the weak point of your team, but it seems that thanks to him a step forward has been taken. Can you explain what he knows how to do to increase overall confidence in the correctness of his decisions?
Charles Leclerc: He works incredibly well and I trust Ravin completely. He is doing an excellent job, and he is still quite young, but he already holds such a position. At the same time, he always manages to maintain exceptional composure, which is very important.

He is excellent at controlling emotions, although we had problems with this before, it was one of our weaknesses. With the arrival of Ravin, everything changed for the better. He knows his business very well and I think we have a very strong racing team now.

Question: During the race you said on the radio that you didn’t want to get into too tense a situation after returning to the track from the pits. Were you afraid of a repeat of what happened in Baku?
Charles Leclerc: The fears were not so great, because I saw that my lead had reached 10 seconds. I understood that this was a lot. I knew that Carlos had been in the pits for a while and then I received a message that Max had also made a pit stop.

There was no longer any reason to stay on the track as it would only give my rivals the opportunity to get closer when I returned to the track. And when you’re driving on cold tires, you don’t want someone attacking you from behind, because you have to slowly warm the tires up to normal temperature. That’s why I didn’t want to get into such a situation and warned the team about it.

But I don’t think I was worried at any point in the race because the gap was quite big.

Q: When you left Austin a year ago, there was a lot of talk about bumps on the highway. How do you assess the changes made this year?
Charles Leclerc: I think a big step forward has been made thanks to the new track surface. In my opinion, however, the asphalt in the first sector remains uneven, with the exception of Turn 1, where the road surface has also been replaced. But there is still something to work on in turns 3 to 7, because there are still a lot of bumps there. But in areas with new asphalt everything is much better.