Charles Leclerc managed to drive from outside the top ten to the podium for the first time in his career. Started from P12 and finished on P3. The Monegasque was moderately satisfied with his race in the United States.
Ferrari not yet strong enough
"Satisfied in a way because we started P12 so a podium is a good achievement. Looking at the race its a little bit disappointing but towards the nd of the race we had a bit too much deg. We'll work. P3 starting P12 is not bad," he said in his post-race interview.
Ferrari are still too far behind Red Bull Racing, Leclerc believes. The 25-year-old driver encountered both Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the race. "It was a nice battle early on with Checo then with Max. We need to keep working in order to challenge them more," Leclerc concluded.