Leclerc admits he’s ‘not satisfied with P3’ after losing out to Piastri in Miami Sprint

Charles Leclerc was left disappointed by the result in the Miami Sprint as he found himself unable to pass McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, ultimately settling for the final podium spot at the chequered flag.

After qualifying on the second row, the Ferrari driver benefitted from a poor getaway for Kimi Antonelli and charged into the top three before consolidating his position by defending against the Italian.

Leclerc then set his sights on Piastri up ahead and managed to close the gap down to less than a second, but he struggled to stay near and repeatedly drifted wide, leading him to cross the line around 2.5s behind the Australian.

“The upgrades worked well,” he summarised after the Sprint. “It’s thanks to the team that has done massive work over these five weeks of break, but I’m satisfied with that.

“Unfortunately I’m not satisfied with P3 though – obviously we wish we were a little bit higher, but McLaren brought significant upgrades as well and did a big step forward.”

The result was a marked improvement on Sprint Qualifying, where both Leclerc and team mate Lewis Hamilton found themselves unable to break into the top three – something which he is hopeful will not be repeated over the rest of the weekend.

And despite his frustration at their rival’s progress, the early signs of success from the Scuderia’s major upgrade package have left Leclerc confident that they can carry the momentum into the Miami Grand Prix.

He said: “We are not too far [behind], so I think for [later today] if we put everything together maybe we can start a bit higher up, and that will make our life a little bit easier.”