Leclerc thought F1 podium was possible after ‘leaving nothing on the table’

It was a fairly uneventful race for Leclerc at the Circuit of the Americas as he finished over 20 seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.

Reflecting on the race at the Circuit of the Americas, Leclerc praised the handling of the Ferrari as it meant he could ‘leave nothing on the table’.

“Well it was a very very good race, the pace was there, every laps were quali laps and I honestly didn’t leave much on the table today,” Leclerc said. “It’s a very very good day, and everything felt very good, and it also shows we are working in that right direction, that as a team we are doing improvements races after races and that’s great to see.

“How high do I rate this race? I don’t know, every race is different, but it was definitely a great drive and a great car to drive too.”

As Perez struggled with his physical condition due to illness and his drinks bottle failing, Leclerc started to reduce the gap in pursuit of the final spot on the podium.

With the Red Bull driver in sight, Leclerc thought his first podium finish since Silverstone was possible.

“Every lap I was trying to maximise everything, it was very smooth, we were never under threat of anybody,” Leclerc added. “The last stint was probably the most challenging one but mostly physical, was very difficult physically, the heat was quite hard and also the bumps are quite difficult laps after laps to go on them.

“So it was physically very demanding and I could see Checo like eight seconds in front and we were catching him, at one point I thought the podium was possible so I was really giving everything so yeah the last stint was the most difficult one but we didn’t have any particular issue.”