Charles Leclerc praised the pace of the F1-75 in this Sunday's race in Austria and explained that the only problem at the end was with the throttle in the slow parts of the circuit
Charles Leclerc washed his soul at the home of rival Red Bull. The Monegasque Ferrari driver won the Austrian GP on Sunday (10) with three overtaking passes over Max Verstappen, who struggled with the tires and the balance of the car and had to settle for second place.
Celebrating with the Maranello team, Leclerc praised the good rhythm of the F1-75 on the Spielberg track, remembering that the last races had been very complicated. The victory, therefore, came to confirm Ferrari's true potential in the 2022 Formula 1 season.
"I really needed that," said a relieved Leclerc at the end of the race. "The last five races were incredibly difficult for me and the team. We finally showed that the car has pace, and to be able to do that is amazing. We have to push until the end," he stressed.
It was a race that was quite eventful in pit-stop strategies, but this time, Ferrari took the right risk and was not afraid to call its driver into the pits when the virtual safety-car came into action in the final part - curiously, caused by the abandonment of the other F1-75, that of Carlos Sainz.
"It was a very good race. At the beginning we had good fights against Max, but the end was quite difficult. I had problems with the throttle. It was stuck between 20% and 30% at low speeds, so it was very complicated, but we managed to go to the end and I'm very happy," continued the #16.
Finally, the Monegasque explained that the problem appeared almost at the same time as his teammate's abandonment, but he knew it was not caused by the power unit. "I knew it wasn't a problem with the engine because it was the pedal that was strange. Fortunately we went all the way to the end," he concluded.