Charles Leclerc took his first podium since Belgium at last week\u2019s United States Grand Prix, but has moved to limit expectations of further successes this season.<\/p>\n
Leclerc\u2019s<\/a> top-three finish in Austin was his and Ferrari\u2019s sixth of the season, with five of this number coming for third-place finishes, and the other for a second place in Monaco.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not surprised by the fact we are missing a bit more performance going throughout the end of the year, especially considering that probably Mercedes<\/a> and Red Bull<\/a> are two of the teams that pushed their development a bit later than other teams,\u201d said Leclerc.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we look at the gap compared to the McLaren, it remained kind of the same. For us, we are more focused about next year, which I hope will help us.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it was a very positive weekend. Whether from now on we can consistently fight for a podium, I think it is a long shot, but I will try to make this happen again this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Having stopped development at an early stage, Ferrari<\/a> have sought to make gains through improved procedures and set-up, with Leclerc adding of the Austin podium: \u201cIt has been a long time, and it\u2019s good for everybody in the team to finally see a little bit of improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n Although still searching for his first podium in Ferrari colours, Lewis Hamilton<\/a> equalled his best result for the season with a fourth-place finish at the Circuit of The Americas, a result he had last achieved at Silverstone.<\/p>\n