The Miracle Man

Image: Unknown/Twitter

Going into the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, nobody expected Ferrari to be competitive. They have been in a downward slope since Canada, with a few good races here and there. They left the first half of the season with an inherited podium in Spa that nobody realistically saw coming.

Expectations for the Dutch Grand Prix were extremely low, considering the Ferrari has become the fourth fastest car (on a good weekend). After watching the practice sessions, with both drivers being in low-top-10 or not finishing the session, things appeared dismal. Even Charles Leclerc had his doubts for the weekend, saying the results of the practice sessions were better than they had expected.

After securing P6 in qualifying, a podium seemed out of the realms of possibility for Charles. When asked if it would be possible he said:

It would be a miracle, but never say never, I will give my all tomorrow

He followed his own words and created his own miracles, providing a masterclass of a performance during the race and securing P3 - a podium.

From the start, he had an amazing overtake on Checo Perez and moved up into 5th position. Whilst in 5th, he stayed within DRS range of Oscar Piastri until Lap 27, when he is called into the pits.

An average Ferrari fan would be scared by this decision, considering Ferrari's poor history with pitstop strategies but today they got it right, successfully undercutting not one but two drivers. This put Charles in a net 3rd postion.

After all the drivers ahead had come into the pits, the biggest threat to a podium finish appeared to be Oscar Piastri who was quickly gaining on Charles. The McLaren has been the fastest car on track for the last few months and with his teammate up in first place with a steadily increasing gap of 10+ seconds, it seemed as though it would be a cut and dry overtake for the Australian driver. Charles, however, was not going to let him by easily.

With 15 laps to go, Oscar was doing his best to get by the Monegasque driver but Charles defended with everything he had... and it paid off. Once they got into the traffic of the backmarkers who were being lapped, Oscar lost the DRS advantage he had on Charles and fell to over a second behind the Ferrari driver. From then on, it was clear a miracle would be occurring today.

Charles Leclerc was able to match the pace of both the Red Bull and McLaren, maintain his tyre life and defend from a much stronger car for the entirety of 72 laps, in a car that had absolutely no business being in the top 3 this weekend. Somehow he managed to do the impossible and create his own miracle this weekend with a podium that no one saw coming, not even himself.

It was not due to some divine intervention or simply because the car was quick on this circuit. It all came down to his immense and raw talent and ability to drag terrible cars into great positions. This weekend was another reminder of just how incredible Charles Leclerc can be.