Leclerc encouraged but rues gap to 'another league' Red Bull in Baku

Charles Leclerc was left encouraged by his P3 result in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but also acknowledged that Red Bull were in "another league".

The Monegasque made a clean start from pole position on the grid but was overtaken by Max Verstappen on Lap 4, before Sergio Perez followed through soon afterwards.

Perez went on to claim victory in the race from Verstappen, with Leclerc completing the podium in third.

Reflecting after the race on the struggle to match Red Bull's pace, Leclerc explained: "They're in another league once it comes to [the] race.

"The really good lap [in qualifying] managed to put us in front, but then over 51 laps, it was just not possible. They have so much more pace than we do in in race pace.

"As I said yesterday, I think they found something that we didn't yet and that's where our focus is at the moment.

"Everybody's working flat out to try and understand what we can do in the races, especially to just get more performance."

Ferrari still unclear on extent of gap

On whether he feels that Ferrari have closed the gap slightly following the result in Baku, Leclerc suggested that it is still unclear.

"Honestly, the feeling is a little bit better," he commented.

"But when I see the gap, I'm pretty sure that when you have this type of gap, you're probably not pushing 100 percent, so we don't really know how much we have closed the gap.

"The feeling is a little bit better. But again, also the Aston Martin was really quick today, so we still have a lot of work."

Fernando Alonso attempted to close down on Leclerc during the race but ultimately missed out.

"He was pushing," Leclerc added.

"I knew what his intentions were at the beginning, because he always does that, trying to keep the tyres at the beginning of the stint and push at the end, so I tried to do the same.

"At the end it was close, but not enough for Fernando today."