Monegasque Charles Leclerc took fourth place at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona over the weekend, earning him 12 points and keeping him near the top of the heap in the precursor to his homecoming race in Monaco on 23rd May.
Charles Leclerc is sitting pretty in fifth place for the season so far after a fantastic fourth place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. He sits only one point behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and only seven off third-place Valtteri Bottas in the F1 2021 standings.
“Today was an amazing race for us. We couldn’t have done anything better. I’m very happy with the job of the team,” Leclerc told Sky Sports after the race.
“The feeling with the car was amazing and in the early part of the race with the soft (tyres), everything felt very good, we didn’t have too much degradation, and on the medium, it was all about trying to manage.”
Leclerc came in behind race winner Lewis Hamilton, second place Max Verstappen and Bottas in third, and was a full nine seconds ahead of fifth place Red Bull pilot Sergio Perez.
“We were incredibly competitive compared to our main competitors,” said Leclerc. “I think we were the standout for the race today so it was good, the feeling of the car was amazing.”
Team Ferrari is on an upswing after enduring a miserable last season, their worst in 40 years, and Leclerc’s continuing improvements are part of the reason why. Teammate Carlos Sainz is pulling his weight as well, finishing seventh in Spain and is eighth overall in standings.
This put Team Ferrari just five points behind third place McLaren, with Mercedes and Red Bull in the number one and two spots respectively.
Vast changes to the cars have also been integral in Ferrari’s return.
“We have more power, we have more downforce and grip,” Leclerc explained. “Especially in the race it seems to help a lot because last year the balance during the race was very difficult, whenever you put high-fuel you feel the weaknesses of the car a lot more. Last year we were struggling with that. This year it just feels a lot better.”
Leclerc will come home for more Grand Prix action on 23rd May to race on the legendary track of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Top photo credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
“We were the standout”
