After scoring his second victory in the third race of 2022, Charles Leclerc says the championship fight is on.
The Ferrari driver jumped into a 34-point lead as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr, his closest rivals heading into the weekend, failed to score.
Following two Safety Car periods, Leclerc took the chequered flag a comfortable 20 seconds ahead of Sergio Perez and George Russell. The Mercedes driver is now second in the points standings.
He described the fourth victory of his career as “the first one where we controlled a little bit the gap.”
Leclerc raved about the performance of his Ferrari, which appeared to be managing its tyres better than Verstappen’s pursuing Red Bull, prior to his retirement.
“Honestly, what a car today,” said Leclerc. “I did a good job all weekend but it was not possible without the car. And this weekend especially in the race pace we were extremely strong.
“The tyres felt great from the first lap to the last lap we were managing the…