Charles Leclerc voices surprise after 'sweaty' run to F1 podium

Charles Leclerc has admitted surprise that he was able to stretch his hard tyres to the end of the grand prix in Japan.

The Monegasque driver ended the race in third place after a tense late-race battle with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

He was placed in a difficult position after a safety car was deployed right after his pit stop, forcing him to go on the attack in the second half of the race.

Having bagged his second podium of the year, Leclerc stated it was far from an easy ride to the top three.

“It was a bit of a sweaty one, this one,” Leclerc said. 

“With the safety car, we got a little bit unlucky. So from that moment onwards, I knew I was a little bit on the back foot, especially compared to Kimi and Lewis.

“But then I was like, 'okay, let's keep pushing, let's try to keep those tyres and bring them to the end'. 

“And actually, it wasn't as much of a disadvantage as I thought. The tyres were actually pretty good. 

“The few laps that I had done weren't so bad. It's just that we lost a few positions.”

Leclerc ended the race a handful of seconds behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Having run as high as second early in the race, Leclerc conceded Ferrari did not have enough in hand to best the McLaren driver.

“Then it was quite a fun race, just not quite enough to get Oscar. But it was a cool race.”