Miami (AFP) – Charles Leclerc admitted he threw away a podium finish for Ferrari with a wild penultimate lap as he dropped from third to finish sixth in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. On a day of mixed emotions for Italian motorsport — with teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli winning a third consecutive race from pole as the country mourned the death of racing legend Alessandro Zanardi — Ferrari failed to live up to their hopes. The team arrived in Florida with an extensive upgrades package that buoyed their ambitions.
But after a strong showing in Friday practice, they struggled to keep pace with rivals including Antonelli’s Mercedes team and McLaren. “I was third and I pushed very hard in the second-to-last lap. I thought it was a good idea to kind of let Oscar (Piastri) go for me to get the overtake (of him),” said Leclerc. “I knew it was going to be very difficult to stay in front of him otherwise, and it was a very poor decision. In the space of four corners, I put a very strong race in the bin — so I am very frustrated about that.”
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Leclerc survived a big spin and smacked the barriers in his efforts as he dropped places and battled to the finish. He was reported to the stewards for leaving the track too many times and for driving his car in an unsafe condition on the final lap. “I don’t know what will be the decision of the stewards,” he said. “I did my best to try and make the corners first of all… But it was probably a lot more difficult for me than it looked to be from the outside.”
His Ferrari teammate, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, was also disappointed as he came home seventh. “Obviously, not a good weekend — P7 in both races,” said Hamilton, referring to Saturday’s sprint. “Just stuck in no man’s land.” After suffering damage from first-lap contact with Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, after four-time champion Max Verstappen spun, “there was nothing I could do,” said Hamilton. “I lost a lot of performance from that.”
Hamilton added: “Really unfortunate because the team worked so hard. We come away with a few points, but yeah, we move on.”
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