Phenomenal performance
The Japanese GP at Suzuka turned into the personal show of Charles Leclerc, who despite the misfortune of a Safety Car entry timing that penalized him greatly, managed to snatch a well-deserved podium achieved through spectacular maneuvers. The Ferrari Monegasque driver had to sweat his way to the third step of the podium with masterpiece overtakes, almost all executed on the outside of Turn 1, not exactly the easiest place to pass those in front of you.
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Leclerc recorded two similar gems at that very spot, first on his teammate Lewis Hamilton and then on George Russell, the latter during a long and spectacular battle that saw the #16 first put on a defensive masterclass and then pull off a great counter-overtake on the only occasion the Mercedes Englishman had managed to get ahead of the red car.
The very overtake executed against Russell made Leclerc’s race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, go wild with joy, as he abandoned his ‘institutional’ role for a few moments over the radio and turned into his driver’s number one fan, shouting into his headset “you have balls of steel, Charles“. Hard to disagree.
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