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Charles Leclerc was full of praise for his Ferrari F1-75 after dominating the 2022 F1 Australian GP weekend.
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The Monegasque became the first Ferrari driver to claim pole at the Albert Park Circuit since Kimi Raikkonen did it back in 2007. Charles Leclerc led from start to finish, while also clinching the fastest lap of the race, to complete an impressive Grand Chelem in his Ferrari F1-75.
The 24-year-old was buzzing during his post-race interview in parc fermé with former Australian F1 driver Mark Webber. When asked to share his thoughts on his dominating display Down Under, Charles Leclerc said:
“In Formula 1, it’s the first one [race] where we controlled a little bit the gap, and honestly, what a car today! I mean, of course, I did a good job all weekend but it was not possible without the car and this weekend, especially in the race pace we were extremely strong. Tires felt great from the first lap to the last lap. We were managing the tires extremely well and I am just so happy.”
Leclerc's good result looked even better when compared to Max Verstappen. The reigning world champion was compelled to retire for the second time in three races after a reliability issue on lap 39 of the race.
"It was very difficult" - Charles Leclerc recounts understeer scare during 2022 F1 Australian GP
Despite leading from lights to flag, it was not totally smooth sailing for Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc during the 2022 Australian GP.
The Monegasque driver was nearly caught out by Max Verstappen during a Safety Car restart after a bout of understeer going into the start-finish straight.
Speaking in the aforementioned interview with Mark Webber, Leclerc recounted the difficulties he faced in keeping Verstappen at bay during that time of the race. He said:
“It was very difficult, especially the Safety Car restart, I had a huge understeer into the last corner and I was like ‘ohhh!’. It was very difficult to keep that first position but then we managed to do so and after the first two-three corners, I managed to regain the grip, and then the pace was back. So, yeah, incredible to win here.”
Leclerc will be hoping to keep this momentum going by the time they get to Imola for the 2022 F1 Emilia Romagna GP on Ferrari's home circuit.
