Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc's huge early championship lead is slightly misleading, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull need a quick solution to their car issues to stop a ...

"But there are many other little improvements we can make on weight and other things we can optimise and we just need to chip away the small gains while understanding the car. "And then to keep up with Red Bull in terms of development is going to be difficult, but yeah, it's the same team that did this car, that will work on the development for this year's car, so I am confident. On average, Mercedes has been 0.85 seconds off pole position at the first three rounds of the season, and the gap to pole as a percentage has been slowly creeping up at each round. That's perhaps no surprise given the time and resources Ferrari was able to pour in to the development of this year's car over the last two years while Red Bull and Mercedes were fighting for championships. But years of championships titles in the junior series prior to F1 means he is not entirely unprepared, and he has already adapted his approach to the championship campaign. "Obviously they started this project a lot earlier than we did, so to a degree we are playing catch-up," he said. "Of course I did a good job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car and this weekend, especially on race pace, we were extremely strong. The tricky balance of the car also seemed to impact tyre performance, as Red Bull tore open the surface of their front left tyres while Ferrari managed to avoid a similar issue with Leclerc. But Verstappen's misfortune should not take anything away from the performance of Ferrari and Leclerc this year. On the basis of pure performance, there has been very little to choose between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen this season. I think it might be a fuel issue, but we need to get the car back, we need to be able to look at what's exactly happened." Not really having the pace, I was just managing my tyres to bring it to the end.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Riding high after a decisive victory for Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, Charles Leclerc's belief in the team's ...

Charles Leclerc scored his second win of the season in dominant fashion for Ferrari as Formula 1 raced the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in three ...

On lap 39, Max Verstappen ran out of power in turn one and retired from second place, his second retirement of the season from a downed power unit. Sainz was unable to continue and was the first driver out of the race. Far behind the two were Lando Norris in fifth and home-country hero Daniel Ricciardo in sixth. Tyres felt great from the first lap to the last lap, we were managing the tires extremely well. Leclerc dominated the race, leading every lap from the pole and comfortably driving away from any challenges on two safety car restarts. And this week, especially in the race pace, we were extremely strong.

The 24-year-old Leclerc extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 34 points while claiming his second win of the season after victory in the ...

“I don’t even want to think about the championship at the moment,” he said. “We are never going to give up. I hope it continues like this and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship.” We are going to keep on fighting. Russell was able to claim his first podium finish of the year when Verstappen was forced from the race and can only hope the team is capable of closing the gap later in the year. “I knew there was a problem and it was always going to be a question mark for finishing the race, but these kind of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen.”

Charles Leclerc extended his lead at the top of the drivers' championship with victory in Melbourne but Max Verstappen was forced out for the second time in ...

Pérez in a clearly quicker Red Bull came back at Hamilton, retaking third with ease on the run to turn three on lap 10. The Briton’s pace had been strong on the final laps before the stops and he emerged in front of Pérez but the Mexican quickly struck to retake the place. Having claimed pole with a mighty lap he went on to prove to have the edge in race pace. The opening for Ferrari with two wins from three races is exactly what the Scuderia required and a statement of intent that cannot be ignored. The win has extended Leclerc’s lead at the top of the championship after three rounds with a planned 20 still to go. Mercedes made the most of his misfortune, with George Russell securing third place and Lewis Hamilton in fourth, as their car showing its best race pace thus far this season.

The Ferrari driver cruised to victory, while Mercedes' George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished an impressive third and fourth respectively.

“Looked like a bit of a photo finish, I was told Lando had a few issues towards the end. Keeping up with Red Bull in terms of development is going to be difficult [but] I’m confident. “I had to control myself a little bit but of course, a fifth and a sixth is a massive result for us so far this year.”

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Riding high after a decisive victory for Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, Charles Leclerc's belief in the team's ...

Charles Leclerc has completed a dominant weekend in his Ferrari after converting pole position into a comprehensive triumph at the Australian Grand Prix.

“I don’t even want to think about the championship at the moment,” he said. “We are never going to give up. I hope it continues like this and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship.” We are going to keep on fighting. Russell was able to claim his first podium finish of the year when Verstappen was forced from the race and can only hope the team is capable of closing the gap later in the year. “I knew there was a problem and it was always going to be a question mark for finishing the race, but these kind of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen.”

After a two-year break, Formula 1 returned to Australia, and Charles Leclerc will start the grand prix from the pole when the lights go out. In what is.

He missed out on the second practice session, and then crashed out of the third in the first half. He has used this move, perhaps as a form of intimidation, a number of times recently–notably at the conclusion of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi, then in the first two races of 2022 when he pulled alongside Leclerc at both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs. Comments have circulated that billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll might be pushing the wrong buttons with the team and that pushing Szafnauer out is the terrible result of his problematic management style. The basic idea is that cars will be taking the green flag single file. Having missed two races with the new car, and then unable to take advantage of the three practice periods in Australia, Vettel is behind the learning curve. Written in the FIA rulebook is a stute stating that no one, except authorized officials, are permitted on the track for the first five minutes after practice sessions. Vettelʻs first practice failure showed that the car is vulnerable. In the first practice session, Vettelʻs car caught fire after losing power and his session ended after gaining just 18 laps of practice. While Mercedes and Aston Martin have struggled with pace, the drivers have found it difficult to keep the cars on track. In a similar fashion, Valtteri Bottas had started well in the first two GPs of the season but failed to make it to the third round and starts from 12th. After a two-year break, Formula 1 returned to Australia, and Charles Leclerc will start the grand prix from the pole when the lights go out. – Fernando Alonso continued a theme that has been prominent in Australia: pushing past the edge of the new carʻs handling ability.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won the Formula One Australian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

To be standing on the podium is special," Russell said. "I don’t even want to think about the championship at the moment," he said. "We are never going to give up. I hope it continues like this and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship." We are going to keep on fighting. "I knew there was a problem and it was always going to be a question mark for finishing the race, but these kind of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen."