Ferrari's 'complicated situation' salvaged by Monaco GP outcome Leclerc
15:26, 26 May
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For Charles Leclerc a win was not in the cards for the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, despite thinking about where he could overtake Lando Norris for the entire night prior to the race.
Having started the race in Monte-Carlo from P2, Leclerc ultimately reached the checkered flag in the same position, something he's not thrilled about as he said to media including GPblog.
"I'm never really happy with second place," said Leclerc, before doing an assessment of the circumstances Ferrari found itself ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
"Then if you do a step back and you look at our season, I think this is a very positive result for the whole team. Especially coming here, we had very low expectations, just because our low-speed performance has been very bad all season."
"However, I think here, it's a very specific track because there are a lot of bumps, a lot of kerb riding, and I think our car is pretty good on that. That helped us to close the gap. So, yeah, I think we did a really good job."
"18 points plus the 10 of Lewis (Hamilton, his Ferrari teammate, ed.), are very valuable points for the situation we are in. On that, I think we should be proud. Am I over the moon for a second place? Not really, but it's been a very positive weekend anyway."
Charles Leclerc in action during his home race in Monaco.
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Leclerc couldn't move past Norris despite visualising opportunities 'all night'
Max Verstappen lead a large portion of the race due to the risky strategy Red Bull Racing put him on, which pinned the Dutchman's hopes for a win on a red flag. As rival Norris caught up to Verstappen, Leclerc hunted Norris down never giving up on his desire to win his home race.
"When Max at the end was in front, I really believed in it until the very end," Leclerc said, to then reveal he'd been holding out hope for a win since the night prior to the Grand Prix.
"I thought about it all night, the two or three places where I could try something on Lando, and I was willing to take all the risks possible to try and get that win. But, unfortunately, these opportunities never came."
The gaps never truly materialised, in part, due to Norris' defensive prowess around the tight Monte-Carlo track.
"Or at least I had maybe two or three laps where I was like, 'OK, maybe I go for it,' but Lando straight away saw those and defended very well. So I basically couldn't really go and try something. At the end, there were no opportunities for me."
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