Charles Leclerc hadn't expected Ferrari to be battling for victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone - but he was still somewhat disappointed to miss out and have to settle for second after all.
“We definitely didn’t expect it," he told the media afterwards. "We expected after qualifying to be quite competitive but not as competitive as now."
Leclerc took the lead on the opening ap after passing Valtteri Bottas at the start and then seeing Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen make contact at Copse.
The race was subsequently red flagged and Leclerc was on P1 for the standing restart, which he controlled beautifully to ensure that Hamilton could not get back into the lead.
But despite the world champion receiving a ten second penalty for causing the collision with Verstappen, Hamilton was able to catch and pass Leclerc in the final laps of the race to claim victory and leave Leclerc feeling slightly deflated.
"I gave all of me but it was just not enough in the last two laps," he sighed. "It was fun in the car but lacked just a little bit of pace towards the end.
“We have been fighting for the win which was incredible. Especially on the medium we were extremely quick.
"Then on the hards we lacked a little bit of pace compared to the Mercedes, but overall it was much stronger than we are used to.
"It is difficult to enjoy [second place] one hundred per cent but it has been an incredible race," he added. "I gave not one hundred per cent, but I gave two hundred per cent!
“Congratulations to Lewis, he did an incredible job," he said. "It is amazing to see as many fans in the grandstands."
It's the first time that Leclerc has finished in the top three since last year's race at Silverstone. His Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz was second in Monaco, but a poor pit stop left him in sixth place today.
Leclerc said that that the Scuderia's performance this weekend was proof that they were on the way back after a terrible 2020 campaign.
“The team is doing incredibly well and I am very proud of the team,” he said. "It's great to have these types of races, it cheers everyone up.
"There is a lot of work being done," he added. "It shows we are doing something right and that we are working in the right direction, so we need to keep going like this.
“It won’t be a smooth ride until we get back to the top but we will give everything.”
Today's result means that Leclerc remains sixth in the drivers championship with 80 points, 12 ahead of Sainz.
Ferrari are currently in fourth place in the constructors championship but shaved four points off the advantage held by their closest rivals Mclaren after ten rounds of the 2021 world championship.
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