Leclerc explains battle with Sainz: ‘This is what racing should be’

Charles Leclerc had a busy race at Monza. The Monegasque driver had battles with both Sergio Perez and teammate Carlos Sainz and did everything he could to step on the podium today, but he eventually finished the race in P4.

"Well, first of all, it was one of probably the most fun race I've had this year in terms of battle with Carlos, with Checo," Leclerc began to explain his race to Viaplay. "With Checo, it was really difficult to defend because he was so quick in the last corner. And he could always stay very close to me. So they were very impressive in the last corner. And that made their overtakes very easy on us, whether it was on me or Carlos."

He continued: "So this was tricky. But apart from that, again, it was fun. And lots of corrections because we are on a low downforce track. And that makes it quite tiring."

Leclerc also said his battle with Sainz might have caused a bit of a headache for the Ferrari fans, it was very fun. "This is what racing should be. On the limit, I think Carlos was defending on the limit. I was attacking on the limit, obviously. And we both knew that it means a lot for both of us to be on the podium in Monza. It means a lot for the Tifosi to have a red car on the podium in Monza. So we knew also that we had kind of a responsibility to not take too much risk. But it was enough to have a lot of fun. So yes, I enjoyed it."