“We are satisfied”: Charles Leclerc content with Miami podium as he finishes P3

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc claimed that he was "satisfied" after getting the podium for the team as he finished P3 in the main race for the Miami GP.

It was a weekend of near misses for the Monegasque driver as he finished P2 in the Sprint Qualifying, the Sprint race, and the Qualifying and was just behind Max Verstappen throughout the weekend.

Coincidentally, in the main race as well, he finished behind the Red Bull as the three-time world champion secured P2 behind first-time race winner Lando Norris on the podium.

Speaking to F1TV in his post-race interview, Charles Leclerc mentioned that he got unlucky with the timing of the safety and said:

"Today, again, we were missing a little bit of pace. We did our best but the timing of the Safety Car wasn't great for us and we had the oldest tyres. But we managed everything quite well and P3 was the best we could do and we are satisfied with that."

Charles Leclerc analyzes his start to the Miami GP

Leclerc found himself battling Sergio Perez and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz after he got a bad start off the line and experienced a lot of wheel-spin.

As quoted by the source mentioned above, the 26-year-old said:

"It was very tricky at the start. Checo was on my inside. I didn't get a very good start, as soon as I left, I had wheelspin. I saw Checo on the right but there was very little grip, so he locked up."

"I thought we would all crash but unfortunately for everybody, we all got out of the first corner. Then it was all about trying to focus on ourselves."

It is Leclerc's third podium of the season, having previously scored P2 and P3 in Melbourne and Jeddah, respectively.

With his P3 finish in Miami, he has also closed the gap to Sergio Perez in the fight for P2 in the drivers' championship with just three points between them. It would be fascinating to see if Charles Leclerc can win a race in the 2024 season and overtake the Mexican driver in the standings.