Charles Leclerc looked back on his victory obtained yesterday in Austin at the United States Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver clearly took advantage of the battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the start to infiltrate, then escape in the lead. A dream scenario for the Monegasque and his SF-24 which had demonstrated since the Sprint the day before to be very fast in race pace.
So how nice is this new victory in F1?
“It’s really good, because every victory is special for its own reason and obviously, from the start, I felt very good with the car. I was quite confident since the Sprint because even though there was no bad fights, the car was handling well and we knew we had good race pace We were a little more skeptical about qualifying, but 4th position was good And then after that start, when I came out of the corner. 1 to move into first position, I knew it was all about trying to use the pace of the car that we had and trying to take care of those tires And the car was handling well. That moment, it was a bit of a lonely race, but it’s a good kind of solitude and I hope we can replicate that in the future.”
Can he say a little more about turn 1, the first lap, his point of view?
“I knew Max and Lando would be very aggressive towards each other. They are fighting for the championship. I had a good start. I saw Max going to the inside as well as Lando and I I said, ‘I’m just going to prepare for the exit of the corner,’ which was obviously a winning bet, and from that moment on I was able to concentrate on my own race.”
We heard him during the race talking about plans A, B and C. Was it always a goal to make just one stop, or did he react based on the gap he opened up on Max?
“Yes, we adjusted the plan. However, at one point, like the 15th or 16th lap, we had a pretty good gap. So we had the freedom to copy what Max was doing a lap later, because it didn’t It’s not like he could undercut us. So when you’re in that situation, it’s a lot less stressful because you just have to copy what the driver behind you is doing and we had the gap to do it. “So it was more about replicating what everyone else was doing rather than finding a different strategy at that time.”
“Ravin [Jain, le responsable stratégie] was on the podium with us. He’s incredible. I really have a lot of confidence in Ravin. He did an excellent job. He’s pretty young too, for a position like that. But he’s still super, super calm. And it’s really necessary. And he also manages emotions very well, which was perhaps one of our weaknesses in the past, when talking about strategy. That changed a lot with Ravin. And again, he does a very, very good job. So I think we have a very strong team at the moment.”
Ferrari was fast all weekend and made a strong comeback in the constructors’ championship over Red Bull Racing but also McLaren. What does he hope to accomplish by the end of the season?
“I wish I could tell you exactly, but it’s always difficult because we rely on very small gaps that can make a big difference. So it’s very difficult to predict where we will be in the next races. However, we We have said for two or three races at Monza, in Baku, in Singapore, that we have made some improvements and that we are still waiting for Austin because that would be the real test for these improvements. And they seem to be working well Five or six years ago. races, we were struggling a bit with rebounds and that doesn’t seem to be the problem anymore. So that’s positive for the future. It doesn’t mean we’ll have every Sunday like Austin, but it means we’re working. in the right direction and that can only be a positive thing, so I hope we can replicate these kinds of results more often.”
What about the constructors’ championship? Ferrari is only eight points behind Red Bull, now 48 behind McLaren. Is anything possible?
“We have to aim for the constructors’ title. It’s an optimistic goal, but that’s what we’re here for. So, yes, we’ll do the math at the end of the season. In the meantime, I think the best thing to do is to concentrate on ourselves, on our own performances, as we did this weekend. It was a very good weekend for the team and for the constructors’ title. We will try to. repeat this as often as possible and I hope that at the end of the year, when we do the counting, we will have won the title.
He himself is 79 points behind Max Verstappen with five rounds remaining. It’s a lot, but if Max and Lando continue to fight like they have, does he think he has a remote chance of winning the drivers’ championship?
“I mean, you should never say never. Let’s say for the manufacturers, if we do everything perfectly until the end of the season, it doesn’t matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, I think that we can still get this title With the drivers title, I see things a little differently Even if we do everything perfectly, I feel like it will take a bit of luck to try to get this title, and. “We can’t really rely on luck. So the drivers’ title seems pretty unlikely, but again, I’ll believe in it until it’s mathematically impossible.”
