Charles Leclerc admits the ache of lacking out on the constructors’ championship with Ferrari outweighs the delight at his outstanding restoration drive within the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Leclerc began nineteenth on the grid on account of an influence unit penalty and poor qualifying, leaving Ferrari with solely a distant likelihood of overturning a 21-point deficit to McLaren with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri beginning on the entrance row. A dramatic opening lap noticed Piastri hit by Max Verstappen and Leclerc acquire 11 positions to run within the high eight, occurring to complete third behind teammate Carlos Sainz as Norris held on for the victory.
“I’m actually comfortable in regards to the race, however the disappointment is quite a bit greater,” Leclerc mentioned. “You don’t win or lose a championship within the final race — clearly, it’s over the course of the season and after each single race and McLaren has simply achieved a greater job than us. Congratulations to them.
“But it surely clearly hurts while you get to the final race. You recognize there’s a possibility. It was a really troublesome weekend, clearly, already with the penalty on Friday. It was by no means going to be straightforward. However after such first lap, the hopes have been excessive. And yeah, we simply got here in need of our dream, which was to win the constructors’. So it hurts.”
Leclerc’s sensible first lap together with a triple overtake across the exterior of Flip 6 as he rapidly moved himself inside the highest 10, and he says he knew he needed to take dangers to provide Ferrari any hope of overhauling McLaren.
A magic first lap from Leclerc minimize by a lot of his obstacles on the way in which to the entrance. Motorsport Photographs
“I knew I needed to be very aggressive, so I knew that in lap 1, I needed to take all of the dangers potential with the intention to acquire as many locations as potential, to then be in place for the remainder of the race,” he mentioned. “This I achieved, however then, sadly, we have been simply beginning too far again to do something higher than what we’ve achieved in the present day.
“I believe we’ve achieved the utmost. It hurts, clearly, as a result of the season was so shut till the top. It was a tough hit on Friday after we knew we had the penalty. We nonetheless gave all of it and we simply got here in need of our objective, which is a disgrace. However on the finish, we’ve tried all the pieces.”
Sainz was nearer to Norris all through his remaining race for Ferrari however couldn’t fairly communicate with the McLaren, and he admits his automotive didn’t fairly have the efficiency to safe the win it required.
“Clearly, a little bit of a bittersweet feeling in the long run,” Sainz mentioned. “P2, I believe, was the utmost we might do in the present day, given the tempo of Lando within the McLaren. I gave it all the pieces, particularly the primary stint. It appeared like we might hold on to them. Then as quickly as we put the exhausting tires, they only gave the impression to be that one or two tenths faster per lap, like we’ve seen all weekend, they usually simply received a bit out of attain.
“Congratulations, to start with, to McLaren. They deserve this championship. They’ve been rock stable within the final two-thirds of the championship — they’ve been unbelievable. From our aspect. I believe we may be pleased with the trouble and the championship we put collectively. It’s been a troublesome 12 months, however positively a 12 months the place we should be pleased with, and hopefully I’ll be again right here quickly.”
