“I never thought I would stand on the podium”: Charles Leclerc talks about Ferrari’s ‘surprise’ podium at the 2024 F1 Dutch GP

Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc secured a surprise podium finish at the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris taking the victory and home favorite Max Verstappen finishing a distant second.

Returning to Zandvoort after the summer break, Ferrari started their weekend on the back foot, struggling for raw pace. The pace deficit was evident in qualifying, where Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q2, and Charles Leclerc qualified nearly nine-tenths of a second slower than pole-sitter Lando Norris.

The Ferrari SF-24 sprung back to life on race day, with Charles Leclerc delivering a flawless performance to claim the final spot on the podium. Starting sixth on the grid, he gained a position on the opening lap, and then undercut George Russell and Oscar Piastri. With the track position, he was able to fend off a fast-charging Piastri for the podium spot.

Having started the weekend with zero expectations of a podium result, the Monegasque driver admitted he was surprised with the SF-24's race pace. He said during the parc-ferme interview:

"Very surprised! I'm not very often happy with P3 but with today's race we can be extremely happy with the job we have done on a difficult weekend for the team."

"We have been struggling from Friday until the race. In the race we found some more pace, executed a perfect strategy. We undercut two of our competitors, then managed to keep them behind. A really strong race for the team. I never thought I would stand on the podium after such a difficult weekend for the team."

Lando Norris took a dominant victory, finishing 22 seconds ahead of the reigning champion Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc was not far behind Verstappen, as he took the checkered flag just 2.5 seconds behind the second-place finisher.

---

Oscar Piastri laments getting stuck behind Charles Leclerc

Oscar Piastri expressed disappointment after missing out on a potential double podium for McLaren at the Dutch GP. Starting third on the grid, he was undercut by Charles Leclerc and George Russell. After his pitstop, he got past the Mercedes driver quickly but was stuck behind the Ferrari driver for the rest of the race.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 in the post-race interview, the Australian F1 driver lamented the missed opportunity:

"I got stuck in the dirty air, it was as simple as that. In the clear air the pace was strong. I just spent 65 of the 72 laps behind someone. It was a bit of a disappointment considering the pace of the car, so not the weekend I was after. There are quite a few things to review."

Charles Leclerc (192) remains in third place in the drivers' standings, 33 points behind race winner Lando Norris (225). Oscar Piastri occupies the fourth position with 179 points.

Red Bull Racing leads the constructors standings with 434 points, with McLaren closing the gap to 404 points. Ferrari occupies third place in the standings, with 370 points.