30/06/2025 17:30
Charles Leclerc was at a loss when trying to reflect on the "key
moments" of his Austrian Grand Prix, apart from wishing he had done
a "better job" at the start of the race. Having started alongside
pole-sitter Lando Norris, the Ferrari driver was unable to get
alongside the McLaren on the run up to the first corner. He
attempted to go up the inside, but the Briton shut the door. In
doing so, it allowed the other MCL39 of Oscar Piastri around the
outside of Leclerc, who dropped to third position. From there on
out, it was a quiet and uneventful afternoon at the Red Bull Ring
for the eight-time grand prix winner, who finished on the podium,
nine seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the second SF-25. So much
so that when he was asked for the main highlights of his afternoon
in the post-race FIA press conference, he was taken aback. "Oh, I
did not expect that question," the Monegasque driver responded to
media, including RacingNews365 . "There weren't very many key
moments on my side. "Obviously, the start, I wish I had done a bit
of a better job to be completely alongside Lando. Maybe that would
have changed a little bit for three or four laps. I don't think we
had the pace to stay there in front. "Basically, from Turn 1 to the
end, it was a very boring race. I was on my own, just trying to
manage quite a few issues that we had on our side." 'Let's not call
them issues' Having said he was dealing with "quite a few issues"
on his Ferrari, Leclerc instantly corrected himself, before
providing some clarity as to what the "situation" is with his car
currently. Refraining from providing too much information, the
27-year-old explained how having to lift and coast (when a driver
takes their foot off the throttle before applying the brakes at
corner entry to manage fuel load and other aspects of the car) had
made for a "frustrating" afternoon in Spielberg. "Let's not call
them issues, but we've got to do some management in the situation
we're in at the moment," Leclerc added. "I won't go into the
detail, but the lift and coast was a little bit frustrating. We
paid a bit of the price for it on the first stint, but then the
second and last stint were a bit more positive, which was good.
"But there weren't many key moments apart from the start."
