Charles Leclerc felt that he “gave it all” during his drive to second place at the Singapore Grand Prix and was left with no regrets, but suggested that Ferrari are still lacking pace compared to rival teams.
Although he came close to snatching the lead from Max Verstappen at lights out, he was squeezed to the inside and bailed out of committing to an overtake, forcing him to remain tucked behind the Dutchman throughout the first stint.
The early pressure Leclerc put on Verstappen faded along with his tyre performance, and he eventually pitted at the end of Lap 24 to marginally stay ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton, who was frustrated to not find a way through.
A Virtual Safety Car gave Leclerc another chance to take on fresh tyres and Ferrari helped him reclaim P2 from Hamilton, where he stayed for the remainder of the race before crossing the line seven seconds behind Verstappen.
“We were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading a bit more in the first stint,” Leclerc explained. “Then we did a slightly different strategy to Max with the [Virtual] Safety Car.
“I believed in it until the very end, but I pushed a lot at the beginning of that last stint and degraded a bit more than the others. I gave it all and I don’t regret anything. I don’t think there was much more to do today apart from maybe [be] a bit more aggressive at the start. That’s the way it is.”
While his post-race radio message included an admission that Ferrari “just weren’t fast enough”, Leclerc also seemed satisfied with their alternative strategy as he stated: “At least we tried something different.”
The result marked his first Grand Prix podium since Round 10 in Belgium, rounding out a wholly positive weekend for the Monegasque after he similarly placed in the top three during Saturday’s Sprint.
Asked whether he stands by previous comments relating to Ferrari’s loss of pace in recent rounds, Leclerc said: “I still feel that way. However, it’s true that we brought some small new parts to the car which maybe helped us to do another step forward.
“It’s not enough. We’ll push to the end and we’ve still got to bring some new things to the car to be at the level. I think today we had good pace overall.”
