Charles Leclerc produced yet another example of the talent that will soon be driving a Ferrari in 2019 as he finished ‘best of the rest’ in Russia on Sunday.
The Monegasque had a somewhat lonely drive to seventh, with only the recovering Red Bulls overhauling him, but this was after a crucial start as he moved upto fifth from seventh on the grid.
“It has been an amazing race today,” he declared. “It was very good that I could get past Esteban [Ocon] and Kevin [Magnussen] very quickly because then we knew it would be very difficult to overtake on this track.
“To be in front of them was a huge advantage. They straight away lost quite a bit by being behind and they couldn’t really follow.”
The real highlight was passing the usually uncompromising Haas driver around the outside of the long Turn 3.
“It was a great overtake, and Kevin stayed fair also, it was good to see,” Leclerc said.
“To score such a result for the first time this season feels amazing, and is a good reward for all of the hard work we put in week after week.
“I am glad to have scored some more points and can’t wait for the next race in Japan.”
