Leclerc: Carlos deserved this victory more than anyone

Charles Leclerc finished third in Mexico City and is unhappy he couldn’t reach more…

Question: Charles, what can you say about the race?
Charles Leclerc: For Ferrari the weekend was positive, for me personally not so much. Unlike Carlos, I wasn’t at my best, but he had a perfect weekend, from the first lap of Friday practice to the finish of the race. Because I missed the training, I was a bit out of sorts and couldn’t recover.

During the race I had the feeling that I was relatively fast in the first stint. Unfortunately I had to… I had to work a lot with the temperature, but yes, now I’m happy that it turned out that way. I’m very happy for the team, very happy for Carlos. He deserved the win this weekend more than anyone.

Q: You said you’ve been behind since the beginning of the weekend. What was wrong with the car?
Charles Leclerc: Nothing special. Sometimes you get behind the wheel and it immediately feels perfect, and sometimes you have to work hard, as happened this weekend.

I didn’t do many laps in practice. The second was dedicated to the Pirelli tests and in the third I tried to get back into the rhythm but couldn’t. This weekend I’m just not fast enough.

Q: You say you suffered from cooling during the race, but after reaching second place you must have felt confident that victory was close?

Charles Leclerc: I saw Carlos standing right in front of me and I thought about winning. I felt comfortable during that segment, but after that the situation became more complicated, given the many steering changes I had to make. I don’t think I had the pace to beat Carlos today.

Question: But were you able to stay ahead of Lando? Or was what happened on lap 63 inevitable?
Charles Leclerc: By then I had no chance of staying ahead of Lando. I think we were just lucky in the first period. Whatever happened to Max and Lando made him drive much slower, but he had a great second stint.

I couldn’t stay ahead. I knew I had to have a good exit out of the last corner for this and I tried, but I went off track and lost my position. I would have lost him anyway, it was just a matter of a few laps or corners.

Question: Are you surprised that Ferrari is in the race for the Constructors’ Championship after a difficult start to the season?
Charles Leclerc: Fighting for victory in the Constructors’ Championship is our goal before the end of the season. And I think the best way to succeed is to focus on yourself and get the best out of the car, as we have done over the last two weekends.

A victory in the Constructors’ Championship is entirely possible. Success depends on how well we do, not on our opponents. If we continue in the same spirit, everything will be fine.

Question: How did you feel when you crashed at the end of the race?
Charles Leclerc: I don’t know what the expression on my face was. I knew I had to do everything perfectly to keep Lando. He was very fast. I felt like I was going to lose in a few laps, but I still tried to stay ahead.

Coming out of the corner there was first oversteer on one side, I tried to catch the car when it appeared on the other side. I swore at myself, but I won’t say exactly how, so I wouldn’t be punished like Max.

Q: You have already used the battle between Norris and Max twice to achieve a better result. I hope this battle for the championship will continue until the end. Do you think there will be three members by the end of the season?
Charles Leclerc: I welcome Max to be as aggressive as possible towards Lando because it helps me and gives me the opportunity to get closer to Lando in the Drivers’ Championship. It’s more of a battle between me and Lando than with Max, who has a pretty big points advantage.

If I assess the situation realistically, I am not thinking about the Drivers’ Championship. To win it is better not to think about winning. We have to do it race after race. It doesn’t depend on me whether I win the Drivers’ Championship.

If I win all the races my chances will be better, but Max should have a very bad weekend and I’m not counting on that. I’m just going to try to have the best end of the season and at the end of the season we’ll count the points.