Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed victory at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, putting himself back in the title race. The last time Leclerc won a race at the Australian Grand Prix back in April, which was exactly three months ago on Sunday. Since then, it has been struggles, particularly losing to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is his rival this season. On Sunday, Verstappen finished second while Lewis Hamilton came third for the third time in a row.
Since winning the Australian GP, Leclerc has encountered one issue or another that has prevented him from finishing first. Instead, his teammate, Carlos Sainz, has finished first once and claimed the podium on two other occasions. The last time Leclerc made the podium was when he did a one-two with Sainz, who came in third, while Leclerc was second at the Miami GP back in May. On Sunday, while Leclerc celebrated his victory, Sainz was unable to finish after his car caught fire during the race.
On some occasions, like in Azerbaijan, Leclerc had failed to finish. Some of the fault had come from his car, and his team had really rallied around to see how they could rescue Leclerc and put him back into the title race.
Speaking after the race, Leclerc described how much the win meant to not just him but the whole team, as he said he “definitely needed” it: “It was a really good race. The pace was there. At the beginning, we had some good fights with Max, and the end was incredibly difficult.
“I definitely needed that one. The last five races have been incredibly difficult for myself and for the team.
“To finally show that we have the pace in the car and we can do it is incredible. We need to push until the end.”
Leclerc is still ranked number two on the driver standing and is more than 30 points behind Verstappen, who continues to dominate despite not winning the last two races. But the win would serve as a boost to Leclerc’s morale as he and his team would try to see how they can get him back to the lead.
Written by: Leon Osamor
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