Charles Leclerc says Ferrari's triumphant 1-2 in Bahrain was just what it needed to redeem itself after two "incredibly difficult" seasons.
Leclerc fended off attacks early in the race from his main challenger, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and looked set to clinch a comfortable win until a late safety car reset proceedings.
Although the Monegasque was able to fend off Verstappen when the race resumed, luck was on Ferrari's side when the Dutchman was sidelined by a series of mechanical issues that not only sealed Leclerc's win, but also allowed teammate Carlos Sainz to seize the runner-up spot.
Leclerc praised his Ferrari team for its relentless efforts to put itself back in the winner's circle.
©Ferrari
"So happy, I keep repeating myself, but the last two years have been incredibly difficult for the team and we knew this was going to be a big opportunity for the team," commented an ecstatic Leclerc.
"The guys have done such an incredible job getting us and building this amazing car, so for now it's starting in the best way possible: pole position victory, fastest lap, 1-2 today with Carlos.
"We could not hope for better, so yeah thank you to all of you guys that kept supporting us in the past two years. It hasn't been easy but it's incredible to be back at the top."
On his early scrap with Verstappen that saw the pair battle intensely for several laps and trade places at the head of the race, Leclerc said that he tried to manage his position relative to his rival to best exploit his DRs.
"I was trying to be as clever as possible, using the DRS as much as possible," Leclerc explained.
"I was trying to brake early at Turn 1 just to be behind him at the DRS detection point, and twice it worked out!
"I took back my first position and I'm just incredibly happy that we made it work."
In a bout of Monegasque humour, Leclerc joked over his team radio on his final lap that he was suffering from an engine issue!
"I did a bit of a joke on the radio on the last lap saying there was something strange with the engine," he said.
"The engineers, I’m pretty sure, didn’t like that. But it was fun, I had that in mind for the last 10 or 15 laps of the race, hoping there were no reliability issues."
Sainz, who complimented Ferrari's triumph, identified Verstappen's issues soon after the safety car period and sensed a chance to gain the upper hand over the Red Bull charger.
"At the restart, I had a strong chance because I had a very clean restart behind Charles and Max," he explained.
"He defended well, to be fair. And then suddenly I started seeing some flashing red lights on the back of his car. And I said, ‘OK, this is my chance,’ I went for it.
"He [Verstappen] was unfortunate. I think today he was driving well enough to get P2 but I had a good run on him and then he had to retire. So it's what it is. And it's good for Ferrari."
"Ferrari is back, and it is properly back with a 1-2 and where the team should be the last two years but the hard work is paying off on and we are there," concluded the Spaniard.
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