F1: Despite win Leclerc concerned about Ferrari reliability

Despite ending his winless streak with victory in Austria, Charles Leclerc has concerns after further Ferrari reliability issues.

Ferrari were on for a one-two finish at the Red Bull Ring, Leclerc having passed Max Verstappen in the Red Bull to take the lead, with Carlos Sainz Jr. then closing in fast to demote Verstappen another position.

That plan went up in smoke though at the same time as Sainz’s engine spewed its guts all over the Red Bull Ring asphalt, while Leclerc soon after began to struggle with a throttle problem.

Leclerc nursed his F1-75 to the line to claim victory, his first since the Australian Grand Prix in April, but he cannot overlook the fresh issues that cropped up in the race for his team.

Asked if Sainz’s retirement took the shine off the day somewhat, race winner Leclerc told Sky Sports F1: “Of course it does because as a team, it is a concern, the reliability, and today it shows even more that it is a concern.

“So we really need to look into that to make sure that it doesn’t happen again during the season.”

Leclerc revealed that the faulty throttle was particularly troublesome in turns two, three and four, a piece of debris seemingly stuck in the mechanism.

“It was really bad,” he confirmed. “Especially [turn] two and three and four was a disaster because the car was pushing a lot with the throttle being extremely inconsistent.

“So yeah, I just had to manage it, but at the end, I got to the finish line and in first position, so very happy.”