To many of us who saw the recent Miami Grand Prix, the third installation of a brand new racing event in America, one etched in the nation’s party heartland, Charles Leclerc drove a decent race.
He finished on the podium and featured amid two of the best of the day- Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Then there’ll be those for whom Charles Leclerc bagged in the process of his P3 at Miami a much-needed respite of sorts; having scored a string of P4 results as seen at Japan and China until recently.
However, in reality, the purist, one who abstains from needless rhetoric and observes a Formula 1 Grand Prix with a sense of passion would have known that Miami was an incredible result for Charles Leclerc.
All he ever had, lest it is forgotten, was a sole practice session before the challenges of the sprint came about; a disastrous spin early on in the race weekend meant that Leclerc was in no position, whatsoever to contest any further in the FP runs. Resultantly, the talented Ferrari driver entered the sprint qualifying almost blind and sans anything that could only be considered a tiny modicum of practice. However, the qualifying runs, in true Leclerc-esque fashion always tend to bring out something enticing and exquisite to the fore.
And Charles Leclerc scored a vital second in the battle for setting the sprint grid. He was fast. He was decisive. He left little to the imagination.
And at the end of the day, when it came to excelling in the main Grand Prix, Leclerc was not found wanting. Clearly the faster or the two drivers sporting the blue racing overalls and speeding the red SF 24, Leclerc scampered away in the testing fast corners and never wobbled.
While much of the focus was, and with due respect to his teammate, rested with Sainz making an excellent safe right at the start when Checo Perez all but took the two Ferraris out into turn 1, Leclerc was constantly on the attack. Later on, he engaged in excellent tyre management and never looked under pressure from the likes of Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren, also a rampaging one.
It could be argued that it was Charles Leclerc who got the priority on the first stop running a shorter stint in comparison to his teammate who’d pit on lap 27, but the Monegasuqe stayed in the game despite the pressure.
Even if the intent of getting the better of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen may have looked a touch too-overambitious, Leclerc hardly showed any restraint and was on the go. He kept up the ante of attack and clinched Ferrari’s only podium at what was a closely contested super interesting Grand Prix at Miami.
This was to be Charles’s third of the season. He seems in the right frame of mind and is battling with much focus and right intent.
In a matter of a few Grands Prix with team principal Fred Vasseur already alluding to the fact that the soon-to-arrive fresh upgrades could make Ferrari an even faster machine than it already is, Leclerc, then supported by a beast of a machine, could really pack a bigger punch.
Moreover, isn’t that something the Tifosi would love to witness?