‘I believed until the end’ – Leclerc shares disappointment of missing out on Belgium win

Charles Leclerc has conceded that he “believed in the win until the end” of the Belgian Grand Prix, which saw him finish close behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli after surging into victory contention.

After standing on the top step last time out at Silverstone, Leclerc had faith that Ferrari could take the fight to the Silver Arrows once again, but he faced a frustrating setback as he slowed on his final lap in Qualifying due to a yellow flag.

He was nevertheless able to shake off the disappointment of starting fourth by displacing George Russell on the opening lap to take third, before chasing down Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to gain another position.

The Dutchman fought his way back through to leave Leclerc in the clutches of Oscar Piastri, with the pair getting into a nervy scrap that saw the McLaren sustain damage.

Fortunately for Leclerc, he escaped without punishment, allowing Ferrari to make the most of a Virtual Safety Car and call him into the pits before sending him back out in front of Antonelli.

“I believed in the win until the end,” he admitted after eventually losing the lead to the Italian with 10 laps remaining. “We had a little bit of luck obviously with the VSC at the right time for us but the pace was relatively strong.”

With Russell failing to score following his race-ending collision with the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc’s podium has tightened up the battle in the Drivers' standings even further as he now sits 28 points behind Russell, and 33 off his own team mate.

Despite the positive momentum that the Scuderia are building, the Monegasque added that they still have issues to tackle in order to mount a long-term challenge against Mercedes – especially after they made the rare choice not to introduce any upgrades this weekend.

Leclerc explained: “There's been some five, six laps on the hard where I've been struggling with the front axle and then it came back a little bit.

“I felt better with the car, there's still some work to do but surely it's a step forward.”