Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has revealed why he was very confident regarding his chances of defeating Formula 1 title rival Max Verstappen last weekend in the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
The Monegasque driver was able to hold off the championship leader despite a late throttle issue to secure his first Formula 1 victory since round three of the current campaign, and continues the fight with the Dutchman for the 2022 world championship. The Red Bull driver took pole position on Friday and won the Sprint race on Saturday ahead of Charles Leclerc, but at the end of the Sprint event, Charles seemed very confident Ferrari would be able to win on Sunday and sent the following team radio message: “We are quick. We can take them.”
Explaining the message, Carlos Leclerc said: “I was quite confident. The pace has been strong in the last five races. Obviously, I have quite often said that on a Saturday night, but I’ve not only said it, I believed it in all five races, so it was good to finally show it on a Sunday and have a clean weekend. Speaking about the sprint, the pace was there and although at the end it was difficult to know how much Max was pushing, I had a feeling we had the upper hand at the end. So that is why I was confident.” – the Monegasque driver added.
Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari arrived in Austria following a difficult series of reliability and strategy struggles, which Red Bull capitalized on to win six consecutive races starting with the Imola Grand Prix and until the Montréal race. However, the Maranello team has hit back in the last two events, with Carlos Sainz at the Silverstone circuit and Charles Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring, to once again establish its championship prospects.
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When asked about the difficult moment, the Monegasque driver added: “Barcelona was one of those races where we were very strong. Monaco was one of those races where we were very strong but since those races, this [Austria] has been the first time that we were actually quite a bit quicker. It is not a surprise because we have been working very hard. Probably the surprise was coming from Saturday to Sunday. In the sprint, Red Bull seemed to be very strong, too, but in the race, we seemed to have picked up a bit more pace compared to them. It is a good surprise.” – Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc concluded.
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