Charles Leclerc was in a comical mood last weekend at the Italian Grand Prix, after being beaten to the final spot on the podium by Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc started the race in third and remained there for the bulk of the race, until he was overtaken by Sergio Perez.
Prior to being overtaken by the Red Bull driver, Leclerc had been following Sainz and Max Verstappen, who were jostling for the lead.
Sainz defended the lead from Verstappen for the opening 15 laps, where he frustrated the reigning World Champion.
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The Spaniard put on an excellent display from pole position but used up his tyres far too quickly.
He simply had to push harder to remain in front of Verstappen, something which destroyed his tyres.
Given that Ferrari have mostly had shocking tyre degradation all season, this was far from ideal.
Verstappen eventually got past Sainz after the 29-year-old exited the opening chicane badly, given the Dutchman a great run into Turn 4.
Once overtaken by the two-time World Champion, Sainz and Leclerc ran second and third, until Perez overtook the Monegasque.
Perez also struggled to overtake Sainz though, who was desperate to impress the Tifosi.
Perez was forced into several mistakes but did eventually find a way past the Ferrari driver in the closing stages of the race.
This left Sainz in third and Leclerc in fourth, with both drivers being hungry for the podium at the Maranello-based team’s home race.
Interestingly, Ferrari’s pitwall didn’t get involved and allowed the duo to fight for the final spot on the podium.
Leclerc seemed to have more grip than Sainz, something which wasn’t surprising given the defensive work the Spaniard had done.
The 25-year-old tried everything to get past his team-mate, yet it was to no avail.
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He gave it one last attempt on the final lap at the opening corner, where Leclerc massively locked-up and almost drive straight into the back of Sainz.
It certainly gave Ferrari a fright, something he questioned to Sainz’s engineers after the race.
“Did I make you sweat?” Leclerc comically asked Sainz’s engineers.