Leclerc insists Ferrari are ‘still targeting the title’ after superb Austin triumph

Charles Leclerc was overjoyed with his fantastic victory in the United States Grand Prix, declaring that Ferrari is “targeting the title” following the team’s overwhelming one-two at the Circuit of The Americas.

While Leclerc started in fourth place on the grid, one position behind teammate Carlos Sainz, the 27-year-old made a brilliant start, taking advantage of pole-sitter Lando Norris sliding wide in his skirmish with Max Verstappen up ahead to rush into first place on the first lap.

Leclerc then had a flawless drive to the chequered flag, taking his third win of the season and eighth of his F1 career, a fantastic result after some ups and downs over the weekend in Austin.

“[I’m] very happy,” Leclerc stated after getting out of the car. “It hasn’t been an easy weekend; up until now, I’ve been suffering with the car’s feel, but I was certain that the sensation would improve throughout the race, and that proved to be the case.

“We saw it yesterday in the Sprint race, so we weren’t scared, but we expected the others to improve more today, but we still had the upper hand.”

So I’m pretty pleased with today. A one-two for the squad; we couldn’t have asked for better.” When asked to describe what happened in the first corner when he gained the lead, Leclerc said, “Well, it was a pretty good Turn 1!” That is exactly what I wanted to accomplish. We had a great lunge. I knew it was going to be really tight into Turn One.Yesterday, I was somewhat of a victim of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Today I learned from that, which obviously helped our first stint because we had a great pace, and then the second stint was all about managing behind. We did an excellent job.

“The car’s pace today and throughout the weekend was really, really good in the race, and that’s mostly due to the engineers. They’ve been working tirelessly in recent months to provide the changes that we’ve seen in Singapore and the last few races, and it appears to be paying off.

“The entire staff is working extremely well. Pit stops were excellent, and everything went smoothly, so I’m quite pleased.” After being reminded that the one-two was Ferrari’s first in the United States in 18 years, it was suggested to Leclerc that he should be proud of the entire team, prompting him to reaffirm their championship objectives ahead of the season’s last five races.

“Yeah,

“Very, very happy,” he replied. “Now we are still targeting the title – it’s a long way to go but it’s a good start to this triple header.” The win has given Ferrari a huge advantage in the constructors’ fight, with their new total of 496 putting them only eight points behind second-placed Red Bull, while McLaren remains in the lead with 544.

In the drivers’ standings, Leclerc maintains third, but is currently only 22 points behind Norris in second. Verstappen, meanwhile, has increased his lead over Norris to 57 points.