Charles Leclerc was extremely happy to win in Austin, especially as Ferrari managed to bring home a 1-2. The Monégasque felt the Scuderia could win after a positive sprint race.
The Ferrari driver inherited the lead in turn 1 on the opening lap, as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen fought each other. Since then, he never looked back and dominated every lap.
His win was based on pure pace, something which showed how well Ferrari worked during the break. Red Bull and McLaren weren’t far off, and the fight between Norris and Verstappen surely helped.
Despite that, the Scuderia demonstrated that managing tire degradation is one of their strengths and can now probably fight for, at least, the constructors’ championship.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend up to now,” admitted Leclerc after the win.
“I have been struggling with the feeling with the car, but I had the confidence in the race and the feeling was OK. We felt it in the sprint race, but we were not scared but thought the others would improve today, but that we still had the upper hand.
“I am really happy with today, 1-2 for the team, we couldn’t have dreamed for better.”