Charles: “Difficult to do better”
Charles Leclerc managed to secure a third place finish in the Dutch Grand Prix. He was never able to threaten Max Verstappen for the lead.
Beaten by a narrow margin in qualifying (only 21 milliseconds), Charles Leclerc hoped to be able to challenge Max Verstappen in the race. In order to give himself the best possible chance, he opted for the soft tires at the start, just like the Dutchman and his teammate. In contrast, the Mercedes team chose the medium tires at the start, which put them in a better position as the race progressed.
He could only observe the damage when he made his second pit stop, as the two Silver Arrows were able to take advantage of the safety car while Charles Leclerc pitted just before. It would have been difficult to do better. We were unlucky with the virtual safety car, but it was challenging with the hard tires.
He was nevertheless able to secure a spot on the podium by overtaking Lewis Hamilton, struggling with his medium tires: « Lewis was struggling with his old tires. It wasn’t easy but it worked. »
The Monégasque no longer has any illusions about his chances in the championship: the gap is really too big. We take it race by race.
