Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both thought a podium would have been possible for the Maranello team in front of the Tifosi at Monza, but it was not meant to be in the end.
Charles Leclerc finished just outside the podium at the end of an eventful Italian Grand Prix, but at one moment the Monegasque driver was second, as Ferrari took advantage of a Safety Car which was out after the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. On a weekend when McLaren, Scuderia Ferrari’s main rivals in the Constructors’ Championship, scored an unexpected one-two with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, the Maranello team was left bemoaning its luck after missing out on a top-three result – but Charles Leclerc still felt his frustrating result came via one of the best drives of his Formula 1 career to date:
“I always put my heart into it, then for sure on television sometimes you see it more, in some races. I’m glad when you notice that, sometimes instead you don’t. Today you saw it because we had the opportunity to try to overtake back some cars as with [Valtteri] Bottas. I really tried everything. Yes, it’s a P4, it’s like this, but the personal performance I think is one of my best performances in Formula 1. So I’m really happy with my performance today. Then when we are so close to the podium [it’s a pity], it’s like this, but that’s fine. For sure I know the fans won’t be happy to see us P4. I get that, we all get that. But if we look at where we were last year and where we are now, it’s a great step forward. And this is thanks to all the work of the team. We are certainly not where we want to be yet, but the step was huge and we have to admit that too.” – he explained, at the end of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, started and finished in P6 on his first appearance at Monza as a driver for the Maranello team. Carlos had a difficult weekend after his crash in the second free practice session at the Ascari chicane, and admitted he did not have the pace in the car to fight for the podium:
“I’m a bit frustrated for sure because today, with the crash of Hamilton and Verstappen, we had the opportunity maybe to achieve the podium. But we were always there. We hadn’t neither the pace with the car nor the confidence in the corners with the back of the car, nor the speed on the straight to go get it. It’s a pity because there was the opportunity but we were there all weekend, half a second behind McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes and we didn’t make it.” – Carlos Sainz concluded.
Leave a Reply