Charles Leclerc (Ferrari/2nd): “I believed in victory right until the end”

Charles Leclerc finished second at the Belgian Grand Prix; following the thrilling World Championship race in the Ardennes, only championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished ahead of the Ferrari driver.

The Silverstone winner was overtaken by Antonelli towards the end of the race, but Charles refused to be shaken off. Kimi later admitted: “Leclerc kept me on my toes.”

This takes Leclerc’s total number of Formula 1 podium finishes to 54 (the same as Niki Lauda); the Monegasque driver missed out on his tenth Grand Prix victory by less than two seconds. Seven years ago, Charles won his first Grand Prix here.

Leclerc said of his Belgian Grand Prix: “To be honest – I firmly believed in victory right up to the very end. The virtual safety car phase played slightly in our favour.”

At one point, the nine-time Grand Prix winner complained about some messy gear changes, but otherwise, according to Charles, there wasn’t much to criticise: “Our pace was solid. There was a spell of five or six laps on the hard tyres where I struggled with the front end, but after that things went reasonably well.”

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“Generally speaking, there’s still work to be done on the car, but it was okay today. Being able to put Mercedes under pressure is something to be proud of.”