After Charles Leclerc finished third in the Belgian Grand Prix, he was “very happy” and Monegasque tried to make his efforts “very good circle”.
One weekend with Ferrari's revised suspension, Leclerc performed better than he finished fourth earlier in Saturday's Sprint, the best results for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's McLarens of Sprint.
“I’m very happy today – it’s strange because it’s still three out of ten [back] This is only third place, but I didn't expect it.
“We think we're going back a lot. We know that the upgrade this weekend obviously has more stuff in the car, but we're still struggling yesterday. But it's a really nice circle.
“I’m very happy with my knees and the car feels so we put everything in quality and it’s great.”
When quizzing his content, Leclerc replied: “It obviously took some time to maximize the upgrade we made in the car, so we had some small things that changed, but nothing big.
“It's all about putting everything together. I've been happy with the car since FP1, so it's better to let the qualifying go back and know that you haven't put anything on the table yet.”
During Saturday's sprint, Leclerc initially surpassed Norris to finish third before losing the place again. With that in mind, the 25-year-old is unsure whether he can get on the podium in Sunday's Grand Prix, and he will lead the way at Max Verstappen.
“I don't know yet, but, for sure, their pace of play looked strong this morning,” Leclerc said. “I can't keep up with them. But with the small changes we've made, I hope that will prevail in the main game.”