Charles Leclerc: The new updates allowed us to make a step forward

      Charles Leclerc is satisfied with the new updates and the weekend results in Spielberg...

      Question: Charles, this is your third podium in four races. Which moments had the most impact on the result? Charles Leclerc: From my side, there were no particular moments. The start was not ideal; I couldn't stay close to Lando. Maybe that would have changed the situation after three or four laps, but we lacked the speed to stay in front. Overall, my race was boring. I was driving alone and trying to handle some issues. I won't call them problems, but we need to deal with the situation we're in somehow. I won't go into details, but it was a bit frustrating to have to lift off and carry momentum. [At Ferrari, there was concern about wear on the control strip when the car was running with a lot of fuel.] We lost a bit because of that in the first stint, but the second and third were good. Apart from the start, I didn't have any key moments.

      Question: Having completed the race with the team's new updates, are you confident in their effectiveness? Charles Leclerc: The updates definitely allowed us to make a step forward and reach the podium this weekend. The team did an incredible job to implement these upgrades as early as possible. I know they are still working hard to introduce other updates soon, which I hope will have an even greater effect and help us close the gap a little on McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes in their best days. So yes, we are working very hard. Hopefully, we'll see the results soon.

      Question: Were you surprised by McLaren's pace during the race? Charles Leclerc: That's not quite the right word. We weren't fast enough in the first stint, but in the second and third, we were running at a good pace. We need to see what the difference was. I was focused on my race and didn't look at lap times. I saw our gap at the end of the race, and it was larger than we would have liked, but unfortunately, that's the gap we have had since the start of the season.

      Question: On Friday, the car clearly lacked speed, but on Saturday, your pace improved significantly. Was that due to some changes in setup or what happened? Charles Leclerc: Yes. We made a lot of changes to the car. I didn't participate in the first practice; in the second, we tried to understand where we stood, and by the third, we made many adjustments. We did an excellent job from Friday to Saturday, having only one session to work on the setup. As soon as I got in the car in the third practice, it behaved much better. This weekend, we managed to fully unlock the car’s potential.