Charles Leclerc was one of several drivers who drove their heart out on Sunday afternoon, even though the Monegasque finished exactly where he started.

Starting seventh, though a podium finish was never on the cards, Charles Leclerc at least hoped for a decent points haul.

Unfortunately a first corner clash with Pierre Gasly resulted in front wing damage that necessitated an unscheduled early pit stop that saw the Ferrari driver return to the fray in 18th.

Keeping his head down, the youngster got on with the job in hand, and slowly began to work his way back through the field, eventually finishing seventh - exactly where he'd started - one place behind his teammate, Carlos Sainz.

However, rather than focussing on the negatives, Leclerc was buoyant, insisting that it was his best performance of his F1 career.

"If we look at the first lap, it's been an incredible race for us and we've been incredibly quick," he subsequently told reporters.

"Obviously there's the first lap that basically stopped us from doing something much, much better today," he admitted.

"It was a big opportunity, the pace was incredible," he continued. "It's probably one of my best performances in Formula 1 today apart from the lap 1. But it's life."

Asked who he felt was to blame for the clash with Gasly that saw the Frenchman also drop down the field where he was involved in further incidents with Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi, Leclerc opted not to make judgement until he had seen a replay, though the stewards had already deemed it a racing incident.

"To be honest I need to watch the images from outside," he said of the incident. "I have no idea whether Pierre went a little bit to the left and I went a little bit to the right at the same time. I guess it's a bit of both and in the end we touched.

"I'm really looking forward to next weekend," he grinned. "Obviously today, again it was really special, it's been a long time that we didn't have this type of race pace. So it was good to see."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Spielberg, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Carsten B, 29/06/2021 16:05

"He he: "face-palm" Have to admit there's a "not" too much in that sentence - brain fade :-)

In a way I wish I was Toto - I'm sure it would improve my bank-balance significantly."

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2. Posted by Wokingchap, 29/06/2021 11:59

"Not a fan of the red team but Charles certainly deserved Driver of the Day award and my vote too."

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3. Posted by Editor, 29/06/2021 11:38

"@ Carsten B

"Having NOT reviewed the incident several times also from onboard Leclerc, I maintain that most of the blame is on Charles.

Is that you Toto... technical directive incoming? "

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4. Posted by Carsten B, 29/06/2021 11:29

"Having not reviewed the incident several times also from onboard Leclerc, I maintain that most of the blame is on Charles. After reentering the racetrack he keeps steadily moving across the track until touching Gasly. Totally avoidable with minimum steering input. But of course this can easily happen in the heat of the moment."

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5. Posted by aroutis, 28/06/2021 13:53

"Quite honestly I would not put the blame on either driver, this was (in my opinion) the definition of what is called a racing incident.
It's why it was not even investigated.
$h1t happens sometimes.
However, what happened afterwards, the way both the team and the driver managed the race , was probably one of the best things that happened in the race. "

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6. Posted by Carsten B, 28/06/2021 10:06

"It really was a fine recovery drive after the first lap incident. However - and without having seen replays of the incident - I would put the blame on Leclerc for taking out Gasly.

This is the 2nd time he has taken out a cars on lap 1 around corner 3 in Austria.

So fine drive but with a BIG caveat."

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"It's probably my best performance in F1," says Leclerc

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