'We've been pretty unlucky' - Charles Leclerc rues missed opportunity at Monza

Charles Leclerc admitted he was disappointed that he could not claim a Ferrari victory at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix on the Monza circuit.

The Ferrari driver accepts that Red Bull rival Max Verstappen may be out of reach in the drivers' standings, but he still plans on claiming a few victories in the remaining six races of the season.

Leclerc began the race from pole position before grid penalties affected numerous drivers, including Verstappen, which meant they had to start further down the grid than their initial qualifying places.

From a race strategy perspective, Leclerc had a two-stop strategy while Verstappen chose one.

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Consecutive podiums for Charles Leclerc ?? The Monza faithful gave the Ferrari driver a rapturous reception ??#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rHEEZ0XHDI

Not bad pace

But Vertsappen was able to get past everyone, after starting in seventh place, and claim Sunday's victory. He was followed across the finish line by Leclerc, Mercedes' George Russell, and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.

In an interview after the race, Leclerc said: "Overall, I think the pace wasn't bad today. The thing is that we've been pretty unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car ending in the middle of the pit stop.

"We were happy to make it harder for ourselves on the medium [tyre] with having a longer stint if we got the benefit of stopping under a Virtual Safety Car, but we didn't get the full benefit of stopping under [the VSC] and then we had to make those mediums last as long as possible."

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This was Verstappen's fifth race win in a row and the 11th of the current