WATCH: Charles Leclerc Hails One of His Best Performances in F1 After Only a ‘F*cking’ P7 at Styrian GP

Charles Leclerc enjoyed a rollercoaster afternoon under the scorching sun at the Red Bull Ring to claim P7 for Ferrari. But that looked far from plausible on lap 1, when the Monegasque tangled with Pierre Gasly, resulting in front wing damage.

Leclerc had to pit on lap 2, and what followed was an impossible charge from the Ferrari driver, as he ultimately ended the race with six points, despite being the last driver on the grid for a handful of laps. What’s more, the fans affirmed Leclerc’s astonishing race to rate him as the driver of the day.

Hence, following the race, Leclerc was interviewed through the team radio, as the 23-year-old hailed a positive end to Sunday despite the chaotic start.

What did Charles Leclerc say?

During the interview, Leclerc opined that he is having a bitter-sweet feeling about the race, and beat himself up for the lap 1 crash around turn 1.

“It is a bit of a bitter-sweet feeling, to be honest. On one hand, probably one of my best performances ever in F1. But, on the other hand, ******** only a P7. I wish we were fighting for big points from overtaking in the first lap,” he said.

“But yeah, that’s where we finished but, at the same time, I had so much fun, so many overtakes. The pace was incredible. So, yeah, very happy.”

While Leclerc recovered from the lap 1 tangle to claim P7, his teammate, Carlos Sainz, finished just ahead in P6 after starting the race from a distant P12. Such was the weekend for Ferrari, as both the drivers looked pretty much unstoppable throughout the race.

Read More: Why did Ferrari Sign Carlos Sainz?

Can Ferrari deliver a similar performance next weekend?

Following the qualifying on Saturday, Leclerc claimed that his car unusually showed an incredible race pace in practice sessions.

And that specific claim ended up being true, as both the drivers were almost lapping as fast as the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers up ahead. The only aspect that prevented Ferrari from a much stronger weekend was the starting position and lap 1 incidents.

But that halted neither of them, as both went on to secure double points finish for the Italian outfit. Hence, considering how the race played out, the Reds will be aching to sustain this performance into the next weekend as well, which is set to take place on the very same circuit.

So, can Ferrari pull off a perfect qualifying next time around and try their level best at challenging the front runners? In the process, can they re-claim P3 on the constructor’s standings from McLaren? Only time will tell.

Watch Story: Biggest Crashes From 2020 Featuring Leclerc, Vettel & Grosjean