Leclerc rates British GP drive ‘very high’ along with previous F1 wins

Charles Leclerc believes he is a “more complete driver” than he was when he took his first two Formula 1 wins in 2019.

22 Jul 2021

2nd place Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari.
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Up until Lap 50 at Silverstone, Leclerc was on course to win his first F1 grand prix since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver inherited the lead from Lewis Hamilton following his tangle with Max Verstappen at Copse.

Despite suffering intermittent engine cuts, Leclerc held onto the lead during the first stint on the mediums.

Hamilton’s superior pace on the hard tyres allowed him to fly past into Copse to take his eighth British Grand Prix victory.

Reflecting on his performance across the weekend, Leclerc felt it was up there with how he performed when he won twice in 2019.

“Oh I definitely rate it very high because yeah I feel I’m a more complete driver than I was in 2019 that’s for sure,” Leclerc said on Sunday after the race. “Today I don’t think I’ve done any mistakes or any big mistakes. Surprisingly we were pushing a lot on these tyres so the mistakes were easy to do but I actually pushed 100% from the first lap to the last lap and it felt good and as a team, first of all the car was amazing and we managed very well the difficult situation in the first stint when we had the small engine cuts and we managed very well with the team which was good to see.”

Ferrari performed better than predicted after struggling with front tyre graining at the Circuit Paul Ricard - like Silverstone, is a front-limited track.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto hailed the team's progress throughout the season.

“I think obviously it was disappointing two laps from the end but I think we should be pleased as well, pleased with the race performance, for the entire weekend performance,” Binotto added. “After France as well I think the team results, we somehow understood the weaknesses and now this is three races in a row where we have had good pace in the race which was a weakness at the start of the season, showing that as a team we are progressing and that is what I am more pleased of especially when we look at the second part of the season.

“Now, after ten races, we’ve got 17 points more than what we had at the end of the last season as a team. Showing certainly the progress.”