Scuderia Ferrari pushed Red Bull Racing to the absolute limit under the Marina Bay floodlights, but Charles Leclerc ultimately had to settle for second place at the Singapore Grand Prix.
After launching off the front row alongside polesitter Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc applied relentless pressure throughout the opening stint. However, high tyre degradation and an aggressive, divergent pit strategy under a mid-race safety car ultimately saw the Monegasque driver run out of rubber in the closing laps, crossing the line just behind his Red Bull rival while keeping Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli at bay in third.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen
Speaking immediately after stepping out of the cockpit, Charles Leclerc broke down how a promising opening phase unravelled into severe tyre management.
"Yeah, we were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading a little bit more in the first stint, but then we did a slightly different strategy to Max with the safety car," Charles Leclerc explained.
Charles Leclerc in Ferrari
Rather than settling into a rhythm behind Max Verstappen during the restart, Charles Leclerc threw caution to the wind by attacking immediately, hoping track position or an early undercut delta would force the Red Bull into a mistake.
Source: Motorsport
