Charles Leclerc satisfied with Ferrari’s one-two finish: It hasn’t happened since Bahrain 2022

Charles Leclerc finished second on the podium in Australia, securing a one-two finish for his team. He was unable to overtake his teammate, who was in great form on Sunday, but was pleased with Ferrari’s performance.

It’s mainly good news for the team, of course, finishing first and second, it hadn’t happened since Bahrain 2022

, declared the Monegasque at the end of the race. He made a point of saluting the performance of his teammate, who underwent an appendectomy just fifteen days ago. « Carlos had an incredible weekend coming back from his surgery, he had an incredible race », affirmed Charles Leclerc.

Then he came back to his race and explained why he stopped so early at Albert Park, compared to his teammate who won the race. “In the first stint, we had to protect ourselves from behind so we had to stop earlier, as soon as we stopped at the first stop, it was clear – but Carlos did better all weekend and deserves the win,” greeted the Monegasque. However, he got closer to the Spaniard at the end of the race, who was struggling on his well-worn tires, but it was too late to catch up with him, and George Russell’s accident cut short any hope.

Charles Leclerc closes in to within four points of Max Verstappen

« I am happy for the team, after, of course, I am a little disappointed, he later admitted on Canal +. « Yesterday, I didn’t do the job, today I struggled with the tires after the second stop, I had graining right away. At the third stop it was better, but it wasn’t enough. But in the end the most important thing is that Ferrari is at the top, we finished first and second, with the fastest lap in the race, so we really maximized the points and that was the goal coming into this weekend. After, it’s clear that there are things to improve on my own performance, I will analyze that with my engineers as soon as I get back to the garage. »

The Monegasque also talked about the difference in tire strategy with his teammate. Carlos had done 6 or 7 more laps on the mediums, we had to react to a car behind us and so we had to stop earlier, I had to be careful with my tires because the front right one was not in the best condition and I knew the race was going to be long after that. I tried to come back, but it was too late, he explained.

After Max Verstappen’s retirement, Charles Leclerc is only 4 points behind the Dutchman in the drivers’ championship, he rejoiced: « This is what we must do, finish this season by saying that we have maximized every point, so it’s good that we did that. We need to know how to seize opportunities, today we took them as a team,” he concluded.