Leclerc eager to bring back the title to Maranello despite relatively big points deficit to McLaren

Ahead of the final race of the 2024 F1 season, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc explained that he is eager to bring back the Constructors’ title to Maranello despite the relatively big points deficit to McLaren

Ferrari had been expected to struggle for pace at the Qatar Grand Prix because of the track characteristics of the Lusail International Circuit. Although the team lost valuable points in the 19-lap sprint race, Charles Leclerc picked up the pieces when Lando Norris was hit with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty in the closing stages of the race to finish the race in a brilliant second spot.

Although McLaren displayed a stronger performance than Ferrari in Qatar, the Scuderia managed to reduce the gap to 21 points in the Constructors’ Championship. Asked to reveal what he expects in the final showdown, Leclerc reckoned that the point deficit is still significant, but the Scuderia won’t give up until the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi.

“Well, it’s difficult to say. To be honest, I haven’t even seen the numbers yet. So we’ve got to wait and see. But I feel like on paper, it should be a bit more positive than Qatar was. Because on race pace… Again, today we’ve been quite lucky, but without what happened to Lando, we would have been very, very far off.

“And without the Safety Car, we would have been very far off. In terms of race pace, we weren’t fast. So I feel like… Yeah, Abu Dhabi should be better for us. So I hope so. But we’ll wait and see. But it’s not too many points between us. So we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and try to maximise everything. And hopefully we’ll bring back the title to Maranello.”

The Monégasque, who has clinched three victories so far in 2024, sits third in the drivers’ standings. His second-place finish in Qatar meant that he reduced the gap to Lando Norris to just eight points, which gives him real hopes to fight for second spot in the Drivers’ Championship.

“I mean, that would be cool. It’s better than P3, but it’s not the most exciting position to fight for. However, in a year like this, where it’s been very tricky for the team and we went through very difficult times, it will be still a satisfaction to get that P2.

“So, yeah, I’ll still do absolutely everything to get it. But the Constructors’ is more important,” concluded the Monégasque.