Leclerc ‘never expected’ podium in Saudi Arabia as he urges Ferrari to ‘keep pushing’ for fight at front

Charles Leclerc has admitted that he “never expected” his third-place finish in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque left “very proud” after claiming his maiden podium of the season while also acknowledging that Ferrari still need to improve if they hope to join the fight at the front.

Qualifying on Saturday had left Leclerc in a downbeat mood, the 27-year-old having voiced his disappointment at being unable to battle amongst the top three – but, come Sunday, things seemed to be going more in his favour.

READ MORE: Piastri clinches victory in Saudi Arabia from Verstappen and Leclerc as McLaren driver becomes new championship leader

After opting for a long opening stint on the medium tyres before switching to the hards on Lap 30 of 50, Leclerc ultimately ended up in third once all of the frontrunners had pitted and subsequently resisted pressure from Lando Norris in the final stages to hold onto the final spot on the rostrum.

Quizzed afterwards on whether the pace seemed to be there more in the race than in Qualifying, the Scuderia driver responded: “It’s the way it is for now unfortunately. In Qualifying we don’t manage to extract more out of the car.

“I was extremely happy with the lap yesterday, I was very happy with the race today. I think we maximised absolutely everything so I’m very proud of what we’ve done, now we just need to improve the car in order to be fighting a bit further up.”

Leclerc was praised in a laidback manner by his race engineer Bryan Bozzi at one stage of the race after passing George Russell for third into Turn 1, prompting an amusing thank you message back from the driver.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow the action as Piastri wins the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

“He was very chill,” Leclerc said of the moment afterwards. “Bryan was very relaxed on the pit wall. For me it was a bit more intense inside the car but, yeah, we have a very good relationship. I think that we can see it on track now and it shows results, so I’m really happy about this.”

Pushed on whether the result was the maximum possible, the eight-time race winner reflected: “Yeah by far, I never expected to finish there. Honestly, I thought that this race was about defending the cars behind, especially Kimi [Antonelli], so it was really good.”

Looking ahead, Leclerc acknowledged that Ferrari have further work to do in order continue moving forwards.

READ MORE: Piastri believes blistering start ‘won us the race’ as McLaren man overcomes penalty-hit Verstappen to take Jeddah victory

“We need to keep pushing the maximum,” he conceded. “Hopefully upgrades are coming soon in order to improve the car.”