Leclerc had no answer to Red Bull charge

Charles Leclerc has conceded to having no answer to charging Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez during a Belgian Grand Prix in which he knew third position was the best he could hope for.

Despite failing to convert pole position into a race win for the ninth consecutive time, Ferrari driver Leclerc was always aware that around a circuit such as Spa-Francorchamps, he was vulnerable to the power of the indomitable Red Bull.

The Monégasque’s lead was shortlived as Perez, who had started alongside Leclerc on the front row, surged by along the Kemmel Straight on the opening lap.

Leclerc then gave up second place to eventual race-winner Verstappen on lap nine, holding on to third place ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton despite being forced to save fuel late on.

That allowed the seven-time F1 champion to pull close but never within touching distance before opting to make a late third pit stop and claim a point for the fastest lap on the final tour.

Following a quietly competitive weekend for Ferrari, although team-mate Carlos Sainz retired after a first-corner collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Leclerc said: “We’ve had quite a positive weekend in terms of pace.

“The race went well on my side. A shame for Carlos, but when you look at Red Bull, we still have a lot of work to do, especially in terms of race pace, because degradation and everything, they are quite far ahead still.

“So this (third place) was the best we could achieve, no doubt. You always hope to try to win the race, but on the other hand, realistically, we knew both Red Bulls would be much quicker.

“Our target was to maximise the points with the package we had, and honestly, I don’t think we could have done anything better.”

There were moments of concern late on, though, for Leclerc as being forced to engage in fuel saving resulted in Hamilton closing the gap to under two seconds at one stage, only for the 25-year-old to eke out his advantage again to keep the Briton at bay.

Asked whether he was confident of holding off Hamilton, Leclerc said: “Yes, until I was told to do some fuel saving. This was quite big at the end of the race. It was a bit too much.

“So there I was struggling a bit more, but the pace was there to keep Lewis behind, and then I knew he was going to pit for the fastest lap, which made my life a little bit easier.

“On the other hand, when Checo (Perez) started to push again for a few laps at the end, I could not match that, so I think they also had a bit of margin.

“At one point I was seeing that I was doing the same lap times as Checo. I didn’t know how much he was saving but I knew how much I was saving, so I thought, ‘Okay maybe we can get second place’, but then very quickly I understood he was just saving.”