United States Grand Prix – Ferrari’s good move

« It feels good to achieve such a result on a track where we didn’t expect to be particularly fast. This phrase, signed by Charles Leclerc on Sky Sports, perfectly sums up Ferrari’s team weekend in Austin.

Fourth, the Monegasque had an uneventful but crucial race as he finished ahead of the McLarens of Ricciardo and Norris (in that order). It was a very good race for me, very boring too (laughs) but overall the performance was incredible today. It’s a pleasant surprise and all the improvements we made are working well so it’s really encouraging for the future.

Carlos Sainz, who was in fifth place on the grid, did not have as rosy a race as his teammate. A slight collision with Ricciardo followed by a botched pit stop dashed the hopes of the Spaniard who could not do better than seventh (Bottas also managed to slip ahead towards the end of the Grand Prix). Sainz still finished ahead of Lando Norris, a crucial result for Ferrari. “I lost too much time with the McLarens and especially with Ricciardo, I spent way too much time behind him,” said the Scuderia driver at the finish. “He could have been cleaner in our battle but in his position, I probably would have done the same. However, we should have never finished behind a McLaren today. We stopped earlier to try to get rid of him (Ricciardo) but it took a lot of time and we found ourselves behind him again when we should have finished in front. We did not maximize our potential.”

Despite Sainz’s frustration, Ferrari, which gained five points on McLaren, now trails its British rival by only 3.5 points.