Leclerc: It would've been difficult to keep Verstappen behind without VSC

Leclerc was out on a one-stop strategy and was driving on aging medium tyres—the compound everyone hates—towards the end, having started on Softs, while Verstappen was flying on Softs targeting the Monegasque's second place.

But then the VSC was brought out when Williams' Carlos Sainz parked his car on the side of the track, which was unnecessary as the Spaniard's car was safely away from the track.

In the end, Verstappen did not have enough to launch an attack on Leclerc, who capped off a decent weekend for Ferrari, taking his second podium in a row after his third place in Austin.

"It’s been a very positive weekend," Leclerc said in Ferrari's race report. "We didn’t come here with the expectation of replicating what we did in Austin, and in the end we executed a second great weekend, this time one step higher on the podium.

"I’m proud of the job our team has done," the Ferrari driver added. "I was tempted to stop a second time earlier on during the race but decided to stick with my Medium tyres and make it work.

"We did have some luck too when the Virtual Safety Car came out in the closing laps, as with Max closing in quickly it would have been more difficult to keep him behind me while losing grip on those tyres," he admitted.

However, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur claimed he wasn't worried about Verstappen catching his driver towards the end of the race while hailing a strong weekend for the Scuderia.

Vasseur said: "Overall this has been a strong weekend for us. We had a good quali, and today we had strong race pace, not compared to McLaren, but to everyone else.

"It was always our plan to make just one pit stop with both cars. I was not too nervous at the end, when Max closed in on Charles, also because it’s very difficult to overtake here.

"So I’m not sure the VSC made much difference," the Frenchman maintained in conclusion.

Ferrari are now second in the 2025 Formula 1 Constructors' Championship, just one point ahead of Mercedes.