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Ferrari star Charles Leclerc finished on the podium at the 2025 Austrian GP. The Monegasque started the race on the front row next to pole sitter Lando Norris and lost P2 to Oscar Piastri into the first corner. Fans reacted to Leclerc and Piastri fighting for P2 at the race start, as they matched each other's reaction times.
Piastri failed to put in a final lap in Q3 following Pierre Gasly's spin, which brought out the yellow flag and started the race in P3. Leclerc, on the other hand, pushed the Ferrari onto the front row. As the race got underway, both Leclerc and Piastri got off to a great start.
However, Lando Norris covered the inside line going into the first corner, and boxed Charles Leclerc behind him, which gave Oscar Piastri the opportunity to sweep on the outside and take P2 away from the Ferrari driver.
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F1’s social media account on X uploaded a video comparing Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri's starts along with their respective reaction times. The Ferrari driver had a reaction time of 0.26 seconds, whereas Piastri’s reaction was a hundredth faster at 0.25 seconds.
The fans commented and reacted to the fight between the two drivers in the first corner, hailing the lightning reaction times from the two.
“Leclerc and Piastri fought like lightning!” wrote a user.
Another fan commented, “Lightning reactions! Leclerc vs Piastri to Turn 1 was edge-of-the-seat racing”
“Insane reaction time and great racing,” wrote another user.
Some fans came out and pointed at the role played by Lando Norris in the fight between Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
“I like how Norris Impeding Leclerc to make space for Piastri😃😃😃,” commented a fan.
Another commented, “smart of Norris to position himself directly ahead of Leclerc to slow him down in the corner... Charles should have done the same on Piastri”
“What a brilliant fight off the line! 🔥 Leclerc vs Piastri gave us pure racing thrills—those reaction times were insane! 🏎️💨” mentioned a user.
Charles Leclerc’s reaction to his great start and short-lived battle with Oscar Piastri
Although Charles Leclerc managed to beat Oscar Piastri's McLaren in qualifying, the Ferrari driver believed that he didn't have the pace to keep the McLaren at bay during the race. Leclerc came out after the race and commented on the same, as he reflected on the Lap 1 fight with Piastri.
Leclerc said:
“As soon as I had a good start I was side-by-side and that was basically my position, then I had to brake early, Oscar overtook me around the outside, so there wasn’t much I could have done better there. But to be honest, if I would have kept second place, I’m pretty sure I would have got overtaken very quickly afterwards because they [the McLarens] were just too quick today.”
From there, it was a lonely race for the Monegasque driver, who settled into P3, was multiple tenths slower than the McLarens, but faster than his teammate Lewis Hamilton in P4.
