Charles Leclerc says he has no regrets about initially trying to draw out his race on one set of intermediates before pitting anyway, with the Ferrari man at one point leading the Turkish Grand Prix.

Istanbul Park provided the latest setting for the Formula 1 world championship and provided a pretty engrossing race, with tyre strategy the real crucial element to success on the day.

Damp conditions that remained pretty static for the entirety of the Grand Prix meant that drivers were tempted to eke out the set of intermediate tyres that they started the race on until the chequered flag, though ultimately it was only Esteban Ocon who actually delivered on that play and his tyres were looking shot to bits by the end.

Indeed, Leclerc appeared to be of similar mind earlier on in the Grand Prix, with him assuming the lead of the race after the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen had pitted for fresh tyres.

With a win in the offing, he wanted to work out just whether he'd have the pace to see the victory through and the initial signs would be that he might, though he has since explained just why that was the impression first of all before Bottas and co. reeled him in and he decided to pit himself, before adding he has no regrets about taking such a punt:

"I had all the info I needed at that time, and once Valtteri pitted, I was asking quite a lot on the radio, 'okay what are the lap times on the new inters?

"For the first five/six laps we were actually more or less in line with the pace. So for me it was clear that it was not just rolling the dice.

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"We were all quite confident with that choice. But it was a bit of a strange race with the new inters for six or seven laps. They had like a graining phase, and once you went through the graining phase then you were finding a lot of pace again.

"That's basically exactly what happened. So no regrets on my side.”

In fairness to Leclerc, a race win suddenly looked a possibility and the only way he would have got it was to stay out and try bring the car home.

Initially, it appeared he had the pace to do so, too, but as his tyres wore down further and Bottas' entered their window of optimal performance, he became a sitting duck.

Fourth place it was for Leclerc, though, and that's still a decent haul of points.