Leclerc: We should be satisfied

Ferrari were out of sorts throughout the Dutch GP weekend, unable to get close to McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes, there SF-24 unhappy around the backed corners of Zandvoort.

The mixed weather did not help of course, and a gearbox issue for Carlos Sainz in FP2 meant he lost valuable track time, while Charles Leclerc was in a better position.

Leclerc qualified sixth for the race while Sainz was eliminated from Q2, but benefitted from Alex Albon's disqualification to start from tenth.

Sixth and tenth became third and fifth respectively, as the Red Cars became alive on race day, Leclerc keeping McLaren's Oscar Piastri at bay while Sainz went through the ranks.

Leclerc was content with his sixth podium in the 2024 Formula 1 season, and told Sky Sports F1: "I was asked yesterday if a podium was possible and I said it would have needed a miracle. Well, it happened!

"I am never really happy with a P3 but starting from P6 and with the low expectations we had, we should be satisfied.

"There is something in the car we did right but I don't think we have the explanation yet. We need to understand how to maximise our package," the Monegasque included.

After the woes of Saturday in qualifying, Sainz was pleasantly surprised with the turn of speed his SF-24 showed on Sunday, he commented: "Yesterday we were quite slow, nearly a second off pole, and quite depressed but today the car felt a lot better.

"I moved forward more than I expected, we were quicker than I expected, which showed the strong race we had," he added. "Let's keep trying, keep pushing to understand this complicated car."

Ferrari are still third in the 2024 F1 Constructors' Standings, 34 points behind second-placed McLaren.