,,Pole position, a win and a first and second place for Ferrari. It couldn’t have been better,” laughed Leclerc. ,,I’m so happy. I keep repeating myself, but the last two years have been so tough for the team. An amazing job has been done building this car.”
Leclerc fought some tough battles with Max Verstappen, who seemed to be on his way to second place, but dropped out in the final phase. “I tried to be as smart as possible,” said Leclerc. ,,I braked early in turn 1, when Max overtook me there a few times. Then I was able to regain my position at Turn 4.”
Teammate Carlos Sainz was realistic after his second place. ,,Ferrari is back, the hard work is paying off. I didn’t have the speed myself today, so I still have some homework to do. Max was unlucky, because he certainly drove well enough to finish second.”
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Lewis Hamilton was still on the podium, in third place, due to the loss of Verstappen and later his companion Sergio Pérez. ,,It was such a difficult race, this was the best possible result”, said the seven-time world champion. “There is still a long way to go. I know there’s a lot of hard work going on in the factory, but it won’t just turn around.”