F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Leclerc and Sainz buoyed by double-points Bahrain finish

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both felt encouraged by their respective haul of points achieved in the Bahrain GP on Sunday.

Leclerc followed up his impressive fourth place in qualifying with a solid launch off the grid, running third in the opening laps of the race before ceding two positions to Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Ultimately, Red Bull's Sergio Perez would also get the upper hand over the Ferrari driver, but overall Leclerc was satisfied with a P6 finish and a performance that clearly validated his team's step forward this season.

"It’s been a good race overall," said Leclerc. "We were lacking a little bit of pace in general compared to Lando but otherwise it’s been quite a good race, and especially a good progress compared to last year, which is what I want to keep in mind for this race.

"It’s only a sixth place, but compared to last year, it’s a good result, so I’m really looking forward to the next races now."

©Ferrari

Sainz clocked in eight seconds behind his teammate in eighth place, consistently improving after a slow, or perhaps conservative start.

"All things considered, I had a very strong end to the race," said Sainz. "I was very quick on the medium and the hard tyres.

"I had a poor start, basically due to a couple of mistakes, but also me consciously taking it maybe a bit too easy in Lap 1, just wanting to make sure I made it through that Lap 1 and making sure that I was getting to know the car in dirty air conditions.

"Then once I got myself into clean air, honestly I was very quick, so I’m not going to complain, I’m going to take it and take it as a learning curve and keep improving."

Sainz ran in the closing stages of the race in the wake of Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren which gave him an opportunity to gauge his SF21 against the papaya squad's MCL35M.

"It is encouraging because last year I remember that with that car I passed Charles very easily," he noted. "So I remember how big was the difference between the McLaren and the Ferrari.

"I think I had much better pace than Daniel there towards the end of the race, we were catching more than half a second a lap."

Like his teammate, Sainz underscored Ferrari's significant progress since last year, but insisted that more gains need to be unlocked.

"There’s positive signs," he said. "There’s encouragement, there’s a big step compared to last year and now it’s a matter of keep finding the details, keep working hard back in Maranello and keep improving.

"We’ve done certainly a very good step, and now we want to take the next steps.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

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