Charles Leclerc joyfully returns to the podium in Austria, getting closer to Red Bull

In 2022, Charles Leclerc won his last victory of the year in Austria after a race full of mastery and audacity. In 2023, things are different: Ferrari no longer has the performance to fight for victory in a fair manner. Second on the grid, Leclerc had to hope for a miracle to win. It didn’t happen. But nevertheless, this weekend is more than positive for the Monegasque. He maximized the performance of his car, even driving faster than the Aston Martins and Mercedes. Ferrari seems to be on the right track to find the path to success: this podium confirms the good direction taken in the past few races.

Charles Leclerc with a big smile during the interview.

Charles Leclerc appeared in the interview area on Canal+ with a smile, and it had been a long time since that happened. The reason? A fantastic second place confirming the good pace of the Ferrari. In recent Grands Prix, the prancing horse has brought numerous upgrades to the car to catch up to Red Bull, and in Austria, Ferrari showed a strong performance.

« It is a pleasure to be back on the podium, especially after a complicated Saturday. We were looking for this confirmation of the good feeling we had on Friday, and honestly, the feeling is there,” said Leclerc to Canal+. After Baku, it is a new podium for the Monegasque. It also gives Ferrari its 800th podium in Formula 1.

But some work to return to Red Bull

This second place is certainly very positive for Leclerc and the Scuderia, but the gap is still high to compete with Red Bull. Without his late pit stop to go for the fastest lap, Max Verstappen would have finished over 25 seconds behind the Monegasque.

“The performance, we still lack a lot of it because Max and even Checo had a great pace. So we still have a lot of work to do,” Leclerc declared to Canal+ microphone.

But Ferrari has taken a big step forward compared to Aston Martin and Red Bull. We have the feeling that we’ve made a step up,” the Monegasque said. Positioning themselves as the second force on the grid behind Red Bull is important for Ferrari. The Italian team is gradually catching up with its rivals.

Explanation about Sainz

In the first third of the race, Carlos Sainz was putting pressure on Charles Leclerc and even seemed to have a better pace. However, there were no team orders. Leclerc explained that everything had been decided before the start of the Grand Prix.

« In the simulations, we were aware that with the DRS, the car behind had an advantage, so it was already quite clear before the start of the race that we would keep the positions like that and attack later. I can’t judge, I was in my rhythm. Tire degradation was an important factor, so I was trying to do the job, and in the end, it was going quite well, explained Leclerc. »

Nothing too serious between the two, as Frédéric Vasseur explains, Sainz simply wanted to put a little pressure on. Since then, the Spaniard has slipped to 6th place in the standings with the penalties administered after the Grand Prix, a bitter outcome considering he had pace all weekend. But overall, it was a positive weekend for Ferrari, who seem to be on the right track to move forward this season.