Leclerc doubts victory chances without penalty: 'Haven't seen Red Bull'

The question remains whether Leclerc could have beaten rival Verstappen without a grid penalty. Carlos Sainz managed to come close to the Dutchman during the race, but in the end Verstappen was faster. However, Leclerc has been performing better than his teammate all season, so who knows, maybe the Monegasque could have challenged his rival. Leclerc himself has doubts.

"I don’t know, I have no idea because I haven’t seen Red Bull at all during the race, they were just too far in front. But the feeling was good and whenever the feeling is good, that’s a good sign", Leclerc is quoted by F1.com.

Leclerc on exciting fight with Verstappen

After his retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Leclerc was forced to replace parts of his Ferrari. During qualifying, the driver, therefore, did not get the chance to challenge Verstappen for pole position and during the race he did not come close.

"Whether it was enough or not to beat Red Bull, I don’t know. I think it’s been close during the whole season and it would have been close today. I don’t know but I felt like Carlos was strong today so this shows that it would have been close, as it has been with Carlos", ends the Ferrari driver.