Charles Leclerc admits that he found his United States Grand Prix result "disappointing", despite recovering from P12 to P3. After qualifying in second place on Saturday, the Ferrari driver started the race from 12th due to taking an engine penalty and was able to work his way forwards in the opening stages of the event. Leclerc benefitted from making his first pit-stop under the Safety Car and eventually found himself battling with Max Verstappen for second place, but the Monegasque was unable to keep the Red Bull behind. This resulted in Leclerc ending the afternoon in third place, taking Ferrari's only points after Carlos Sainz was forced to retire following an opening lap incident with George Russell.
Leclerc reflects on 'disappointing' US GP outcome
Speaking after the race, Leclerc acknowledged that reaching the podium was positive but admitted to being left disappointed by his tyre degradation issues. "[I'm] satisfied in a way because we started P12, so a podium is a good achievement," the 25-year-old said. "But looking at the race, it's obviously a little bit disappointing. We had the pace, but then we had a little bit too much deg towards the end of the race. "But we'll work and at the end, P3, starting on P12, is not that bad."
Ferrari working in 'right direction', says Leclerc
Despite hoping for better, Leclerc praised his Ferrari team for continuing to make progress in areas where he feels they need to improve. "I was quite confident [ahead of the race] that a podium was possible if we were doing everything perfect," he explained to media, including RacingNews365.com . "Looking back, I think communication strategy has been the right one. Tyre management, we still need to do a step as I said, but we are working in the right direction." Leclerc's result has put him back into P2 in the World Championship standings, with the Scuderia driver now two points ahead of closest rival Sergio Perez.
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