Charles Leclerc revealed after the Austrian Grand Prix that he was struggling immensely with his throttle, so was relieved to come across the line to take the win.
The Monegasque passed polesitter Max Verstappen three times after Ferrari and Red Bull perennially tried to undercut each other with pit stops, and it looked as though the Scuderia were going to get a one-two before Carlos Sainz suffered an engine failure just as he was poised to pass the reigning champion.
After the 27-year-old had clambered out of his burning car, Leclerc began to experience troubles with his throttle, and he divulged after holding on for the win that it had gotten stuck.
“It was a really good race,” he told David Coulthard after the race.
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“I mean, the pace was there, at the beginning we had a good fight with Max, and in the end it was incredibly difficult.
“I had this problem with the throttle, and it would get stuck at twenty or thirty percent throttle in the low speed [corners].
He stated in the media pen that it was in the middle sector where the car constantly threatened to step out because of the throttle problems.
“It was really bad,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.
“Especially Turn Three and Four was a disaster because the car was pushing a lot with the throttle being extremely inconsistent so yeah, I just had to manage it but at the end I got to the finish line in first position, so very happy.”
Ferrari seemed to have better race pace than Red Bull in Spielberg, which has been a rarity in 2022.
“I mean I worked quite a bit on my driving yesterday night,” explained Leclerc.
“And I knew where to improve, especially on that Medium stint to be able to have the pace but also the good management and I think we’ve shown that perfectly today which was great.
“And that’s where we did the big difference in the race.
“Then on the Hards, yeah we were quick but there was no degradation so everybody was quite a bit closer.
“But, I’m very happy that the hard work of yesterday night paid off today.”
The Scuderia’s fourth reliability failure in the space of six races is something that worries the Italian side going forward.
“Of course it does because obviously as a team it is a concern, the reliability,” stated Leclerc.
“And today shows even more that it is a concern, so we need to look into that to make sure that it doesn’t happen again during the season.”
Leclerc’s win in Styria was his third of the season, and his first since the Australian Grand Prix in April.