Charles Leclerc finished second at the United States Grand Prix, demonstrating strong pace and emerging as one of the leading contenders for a podium finish. Although the Ferrari driver was unable to secure victory, the Monegasque expressed satisfaction with the team's overall performance and highlighted the car's competitiveness in battles with his closest rivals.Following the race, Leclerc acknowledged that missing out on victory was the main disappointment of the weekend. Nevertheless, he emphasised that Ferrari had demonstrated encouraging performance throughout the event and achieved a positive result."Overall, I'm pleased with how the race unfolded. Of course, we were aiming for victory, so it's slightly disappointing that we couldn't achieve that goal. Nevertheless, our pace was strong, the car allowed us to attack, and the race itself was exciting. It was particularly satisfying to compete against strong rivals and ultimately finish second."According to Leclerc, the opening stint proved particularly challenging, as he had to balance tyre management with maintaining a competitive pace. Differences in strategy between the leading teams also played a significant role. Mercedes opted for a one-stop strategy, while Ferrari pursued an alternative approach in an effort to maximise its result."The first stint wasn't particularly straightforward, but things gradually improved. Kimi opted for a one-stop strategy, which wasn't something we had planned to use today. However, our pace was very competitive, especially when battling Max. We tried to extract the maximum performance from the car and continued pushing," the Monegasque explained.Leclerc also reflected on the intense on-track battles that characterised the United States Grand Prix. In his view, the race featured several exciting overtaking manoeuvres and closely contested duels, where both outright performance and effective energy management played decisive roles.The opening corners were particularly memorable, with several drivers exchanging positions immediately after the start. Despite briefly losing his advantage over Verstappen, Leclerc remained confident that his Ferrari had sufficient pace to challenge again later in the race."The start was quite intense, but those are the moments that make racing exciting. I managed to get ahead of Max, but then I had less battery energy available and couldn't hold the position. I wasn't overly concerned because I could feel that the car had good pace. Later on, we had some excellent battles with Lando and Max, and I really enjoyed those moments," Leclerc said.During the closing stages, the Ferrari driver capitalised on his strong pace to overtake both Norris and Verstappen, securing second place. Although he was unable to close the gap to race leader Kimi Antonelli, the result demonstrated Ferrari's ability to compete with the championship's leading teams.Second place in Austin represented another valuable result for Leclerc in the closing stages of the season. Ferrari showed competitive race pace throughout the Grand Prix, although differences in strategy ultimately prevented the team from achieving its primary objective of victory.
Attention now turns to the upcoming Mexico City Grand Prix, where Leclerc will aim to build on his Austin performance and challenge for the top step of the podium once again.
