F1 | Ferrari, Charles Leclerc: “Important victory, I believed in it”

For the first time he does it not starting from pole: Charles Leclerc wins at their home, at the Red Bull Ring, here where Ferrari last triumphed nineteen years ago, when Michael Schumacher was behind the wheel. Leclerc was crazy in Austria, his race isn't going downhill: at the beginning he fights with Verstappen, and with a great overtaking he takes the lead of the race, with the Dutchman returning to the pits. Then, the warnings for the track limits, but Ferrari extends the stint of both drivers and Charles returns on the twenty-sixth lap. The overtaking on the world champion, this time, comes easily: it's red dominance. History repeats itself at the second stop, on lap 49, but then, Sainz's engine fails, sucking the SF-75 into the fire and the problems begin with the VSC. The Monegasque communicates on the radio that he has a problem with the accelerator: the throttle always remains open, in some corners at 100%, in others less, but braking on corners is complicated and Charles resists, while Verstappen gets closer. The checkered flag is a liberation: Leclerc can breathe, Leclerc returns to winning. The last time on the top step of the podium, for him, was in Melbourne, exactly three months ago, when the championship seemed to be different. The Ferrari is there, at the enemy's home, but above all Charles is there. Now the goal is to close that thirty-eight point gap from championship leader and on-track rival Max Verstappen.

"The battle with Max was certainly good, especially the first one, because in the other two we had different tyres, but I'm really happy. After the last five races I have always said to be optimistic, to stay positive, I try to convince myself, but it's difficult. You take blow after blow and always want to show what you are capable of. Finally a normal race, we take the victory – said the Monegasque – shame about Carlos, reliability will be very important this year and we had problems again. My problem was different, in the end it was difficult, especially the slow corners like three and four, but I managed to get to the end and win. We will analyze the problem, something like this has never happened to us, I don't know if something was stuck in the pedals, but we will check. 

“I was confident, I always believe in it, in any situation – continued Leclerc – today I believed it: we were particularly strong, I knew what I had to work on, especially on the stint on the mediums, but I'm happy with the management of the tyres, we improved, but we determined the race on the mediums. This victory is important, we must continue like this for the rest of the season. It seems easy, but there are still 11 races. I will give my best".