Leclerc: "It's difficult to think about the championship"

Charles Leclerc drove a dominant race at the Australian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen could not match the pace of the Ferrari driver. With the Dutchman's retirement, Leclerc picks up many important points.

Leclerc immediately got away well at the start and managed to maintain his lead in dominant fashion for the rest of the race. Verstappen was unable to keep up with the pace of his rival. The Monegasque eventually finished in first place with a twenty-second lead over Sergio Perez.

"What a car we had today. Of course I did a good job all weekend, but that wasn't possible without the car. This weekend, especially in the race, we were extremely strong. The tyres felt good from the first lap to the last, we handled the tires extremely well. I'm just so happy," Leclerc said after the race.

Leclerc believes in his team

On the second safety car restart, Leclerc had more difficulty maintaining the lead. "It was very difficult, especially the safety car restart I had a huge understeer into the last corner and I was like wow... it's going to be difficult to keep that first position but then we were able to do some," Leclerc added. 

Ferrari looks hugely strong and the Monegasque's fastest lap takes home the maximum number of points this weekend. "We are only at the third race so it's difficult to think about the championship, but to be honest we have a very strong and reliable car and we have always been here. If it stays that way we have a chance of the championship," he added.