Charles Leclerc was left frustrated by his lack of pace following a red flag mid-race in the eventful Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Despite a spin on the formation lap, the Ferrari driver showed promise in the early laps of the race and looked to potentially be in contention for a podium. However, his fortunes changed following the restart after a crash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell. Whilst Leclerc was pleased with his end result of fourth place, he still regretted not being able to challenge more. "It was a great race today," the Monegasque told Sky Sports F1. "But I am a bit frustrated because obviously seeing the beginning of the race - not speaking about the formation lap but after that - it was a great beginning of the race and we were in a good position. "We were very strong in terms of pace. Then obviously with the red flag, it was a bit difficult for us because we started to be very vulnerable, after the red flag in the straights. "We took a bit of a gamble yesterday with the downforce to be a bit better in case it was raining, and it was the case. But unfortunately with a red flag then we struggled to defend from the cars behind." Leclerc remains pleased with Ferrari's progress though in what proved to be a good result for the whole team, with teammate Carlos Sainz recovering from a difficult qualifying to finish in fifth. "This we should be very happy about," Leclerc said. "So yes, I'm happy with how things are going. We need to keep pushing, and hopefully we'll be fighting further very soon." Following the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Leclerc is in fourth place in the drivers' standings with 20 points, having previously finished the opening race of the season in Bahrain in sixth position.
Most read
