Charles Leclerc explains P3 duel with Max Verstappen: “We both fought for the slipstream”. Charles Leclerc snatches third place from Max Verstappen at the Spanish GP after a late Safety Car.

It’s a second consecutive podium for the Monegasque after finishing second at the Monaco Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc ended the 2025 Spanish GP in third place.

The Ferrari driver started from seventh after completing only one attempt in Q3 during Saturday’s qualifying. By the end of the first lap, Charles Leclerc had overtaken both Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. His race pace was faster than that of Lewis Hamilton from the early laps, and after spending three laps behind him, a team order allowed Leclerc to move up to fourth by passing Lewis Hamilton.

His race unfolded in relative solitude until lap 56, when Antonelli retired, prompting the deployment of the Safety Car. Charles Leclerc then switched to soft tyres and managed to overtake Max Verstappen at the restart, stealing the final podium position which had belonged to the Dutchman up until that point—helped by a double compound advantage.

Charles Leclerc’s perspective on the battle with Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc commented on the wheel-to-wheel fight with Max Verstappen after the race: “We both wanted to get the slipstream from the cars ahead. Max wanted to push me towards the inside where there were the marbles, and I didn’t exactly want to go there, so I tried to push him to the left, and there was a small contact but fortunately with no consequences.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out.

“I’m really happy. Yesterday I sacrificed qualifying a bit to have better tyres, and we didn’t know if it would pay off or not—ultimately it worked. In a normal race, fourth place would have been our finishing position. With the Safety Car, we got lucky and I’m very happy with this podium,” he added, speaking about the strategy.

Charles Leclerc also commented on his mindset before the restart: “When my engineer told me that Max had gone onto the hard compound, I knew they had no other choice. At that moment, I felt very optimistic because I knew how bad the hard tyre was, and an opportunity came.”

Charles Leclerc’s overtake on Max Verstappen is currently under investigation by the stewards.