"I definitely needed that one" - Charles Leclerc secures 2022 F1 Austrian GP win while dealing with Ferrari reliability issues

Charles Leclerc won the 2022 Austrian GP after pipping championship rival Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring. The Monegasque driver looked comfortable throughout the race, thus ending his run of never winning a race outside of pole position.

Leclerc started behind reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who took pole position after winning Saturday's Sprint. However, the Dutchman did not have an answer for his 24-year-old rival, who was pumping out extremely impressive lap times throughout the race.

Charles Leclerc held off a rapidly approaching Verstappen despite developing a throttle issue at the end of the race, showcasing his amazing ability to remain calm under pressure. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz missed out on a potential P2 finish after developing yet another engine issue towards the end of the race, allowing Lewis Hamilton to slot in effortlessly for a third-place finish.

The Monegasque driver told David Coulthard in Parc Ferme:

“It was a really good race. I mean, the pace was there. In the beginning we had a good fight with Max [Verstappen] and in the end it was incredibly difficult as I had this problem with the throttle. And it would get stuck up - 20 or 30% throttle in the low speeds. But I managed to make it stick until the end and I am so so happy.”

When asked if he was worried about reliability issues after Carlos Sainz was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue, Charles Leclerc said:

“Weirdly, it was more or less at the same time. I, of course, had it in my mind. I knew it was not a problem with the engine because it was really the pedal that was feeling weird. First it would not pick up and at the end it would not come back to zero. Luckily it went until the end of the race.”

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Charles Leclerc claims Ferrari is a tight unit, squashing rumors of instability

Charles Leclerc has squashed all rumors suggesting that there was a rift in the Ferrari camp after Carlos Sainz claimed his maiden F1 win last week at Silverstone. The Monegasque missed out on a potential win at Silverstone after the Scuderia made a series of baffling strategic calls which put him out of contention.

Speaking to the media ahead of the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, Charles Leclerc nipped rumors of in-fighting in the Scuderia stables after some team members were absent from Sainz's celebration photo in the bud. He said:

“It is a shame to see all of this type of things. It is definitely not what is happening inside the team. We are a very united team, we’ve always been and it’s not these difficult races that will make it change.”

He continued:

“Were we disappointed after last weekend? I think we were because speaking about last weekend, we were one-two and we finished one-four so part of the team were disappointed. But this was definitely not the reason whatsoever for not everybody being on the picture.”

Leclerc and Verstappen have established themselves as the two championship protagonists, but it is still too early to count out drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and maybe even Lewis Hamilton. Only time will tell which one of these elite drivers will emerge victorious at the end of the year.