Mixed feelings for Leclerc after missing out on Imola F1 podium

Charles Leclerc was left with mixed feelings after finishing fourth in the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Leclerc enjoyed a strong start from fourth on the grid and overtook Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on the opening lap.

The Monegasque driver looked to be set for a comfortable podium finish as he inherited second from Lewis Hamilton after he went off at the Tosa corner.

Leclerc was overtaken by McLaren’s Lando Norris on the restart after the red flag and then lost third to Hamilton, who had been charging through the field.

While he’s delighted with Ferrari’s progress over the winter, Leclerc admits he’s a “little bit frustrated” to have missed out on the rostrum at Imola.

“Happy with the race, but at the same time a little bit frustrated,” Leclerc said.“The first part of the race, we were very competitive and everything looked good. Then with the red flag, all the cars were reshuffled and it repacked everyone. And then we started to be a bit vulnerable in the straights. I was the first of the pack at first, struggled to defend on Lando, and then on Lewis a bit later.

“This we should be very happy about this so yes, I’m happy with how things are going, we need to keep pushing and hopefully, we’ll be fighting further very, very soon.”

Carlos Sainz enjoyed a strong drive to fifth from 11th on the grid.

It wasn’t a straightforward afternoon for the Spaniard as he ran off the track on multiple occasions.

Sainz felt his errors were simply a consequence of him taking more risks and trying to extract more from the Ferrari SF21.

“All things considered, I think P5 is a good result for me, Sainz added. “Obviously taking into account I was starting 11th, first time in the wet with these cars so I had a lot of things to discover.

“This time I decided to take some risk. I said in Bahrain I was going to take it easy, today, in the wet I said ‘OK I am going to go for it’ and I made some places there. I went from 11th to seventh or eighth. I struggled to find my feet after that. I was trying a lot of brake balances, the right balance for each corner, the right feeling with the brake pedal in the car and I missed a couple of corners there which cost me quite a lot of race time.

“I was nevertheless so quick out there that I could recover it so I was making mistakes but at the same time pushing and getting that time back.”