Leclerc relieved after long-awaited win: "I definitely needed this"

Charles Leclerc was relieved to win the Austrian Grand Prix despite Max Verstappen being the favourite. Ferrari had the faster car but were also strategically on top today, much to the relief of the Monegasque.

Leclerc expressed his delight at the strong result after the race. "It was a really good race. The pace was there, in the beginning, we had some good fights with Max," he said in conversation with David Coulthard.

Leclerc relieved

Towards the end, the Ferrari driver ran into problems with his accelerator, which gave him a few more exciting moments. "The end was incredibly difficult, I had a problem with the accelerator. It was stuck at twenty or thirty percent at low speeds, so it was very difficult," Leclerc acknowledged.

However, he managed to hold on until the end and secure a long-awaited victory after a difficult period. "I'm so happy," rejoiced the Monegasque, who admits he was a little scared at the end, especially after seeing teammate Carlos Sainz jump out of a burning Ferrari. "Strangely enough it was more or less at the same time so of course, I had it in my mind," he admits.

"I definitely needed this one. The last five races have been incredibly difficult for myself, but of course also for the team and to finally show that we have the pace and the car is incredible, so we have to push through to the end," the race winner concludes.