'Nothing Leclerc could have done better' - on Sunday, at least

Charles Leclerc just missed out on the podium in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix but his impressive efforts during the race meant he was hailed as Driver of the Day by F1 fans.

Leclerc certainly felt that he had given it his all during the race itself, which saw him miss out to Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz in the closing stage in their battle over P3.

"Looking just at today's race I'm quite happy, because there is nothing that we could have done better," he told the media in the paddock at Suzuka. "Our pace, tyre management, communication and strategy were all really good."

But this was little consolation for Leclerc, who underperformed in Saturday's qualifying session meaning that he started the race from a lowly eighth place, putting him back foot from the minute the lights went out.

In the past it's been the other way round. Even during the recent Red Bull dominance, he was still able to pick up nine poles in 2022 and five in 2023, and it was the race pace of the Ferrari that thwarted his efforts on Sunday.

• Read also: Verstappen and Perez back in charge with Red Bull 1-2 in Suzuka

“Qualifying has always gone well for me, but for the past two races I’ve struggled," he admitted. "We've had some difficulties putting the tyres in the right window on the out laps in qualifying.

"It's something we never struggled with before," he continued. "Normally it's pretty good on the Saturday. I’m paying the price for this both in Australia and here, but the pace in the race is there.

“I feel like I’m stupid to say I was happy with my qualifying lap and then finish eighth, because I’m not like that,” Leclerc admitted. “The lap is good, but the grip of the tyre doesn’t give you what you expect.

"Whether it's in Australia or here, race pace has not been a problem. It's my qualifying pace, which is not something that I've not been very used to in my career to be working on my qualifying pace."

Leclerc said that getting to the root of the problem was now his prime objective heading into the next race in China in two weeks time.

"It's definitely my main focus going into Shanghai, to try and re-find the right window of the tyres and for me to put them more consistently inside that window, to make sure we can put it all together in China."

"There are these small differences in the out lap and I have to work on this," he said. "We've got a week before Shanghai. I have to focus on it, but every time I’ve worked on something it’s improved quite quickly so I’m not too worried."

Despite his poor starting position, Leclerc still led the race for four laps as a result of running a long 26-lap initial stint on medium tyres making the race effectively a one-stop after the early red flag stoppage.

His team mate Carlos Sainz was two-stopping which dropped him behind Leclerc on lap 37, but the Ferrari pit wall asked him to make way for the Spaniard on fresher tyres on lap 46, costing Leclerc a shot at the podium.

With Carlos starting nearer the front we could be more aggressive so that he finished on a charge, pulling off several great passing moves," explained team boss Frederic Vasseur.

"We were a bit more limited with Charles, as he was down in eighth on the grid, but he drove an excellent first stint and so we were able to execute a one-stop strategy that meant he made up a lot of places.

"Looking at the result, it's clear there is still room for improvement if we want to put Red Bull under pressure and that's what we'd like to do as from the next round in China."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter