Leclerc “extracted absolutely everything” in F1 British GP

Leclerc was running in a comfortable fourth-place until a chaotic final couple of laps saw Valtteri Bottas suffer a tyre failure, promoting the Ferrari driver into the podium positions.

Leclerc’s P3 finish means he has now scored two podiums in the opening four races, while Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s best result of 2020 is only a P5.

Given Ferrari’s struggles this season, Leclerc was understandably delighted with his result at Silverstone.

“Yes, it’s definitely a lot more unexpected for this year that’s for sure,” Leclerc said. “We know we’ve been lucky to get to the podium but, apart from that, we’ve been satisfied with the way we’ve been working throughout the weekend. For sure we don’t want to be fighting for fourth place for so long, but, at the moment, that’s what the car is capable of.

“I think we extracted absolutely everything out of the strategy and the car. I’m very happy, it’s a very unexpected podium, so I’m more satisfied than last year with third place.”

Ferrari had struggled for tyre management in Friday practice - something which did not seem to impact Leclerc in Sunday's race.

“Yes, I’m very happy with it, especially with the tyre management. It was not easy, we had a very aggressive downforce level coming here, so we had quite a lot of speed down the straights, but it was very difficult in the corners.

“We were quite worried for the race, especially for the tyre degradation, but we did quite a good job on that.”

Leclerc now sits fifth in the drivers’ championship, three points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.