Leclerc dispirited despite sensational drive with Ferrari

Despite completing a sensational comeback from the back of the grid to finish on the podium, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc admitted that the “disappointment was bigger than the satisfaction” after the Maranello-based outfit lost out to McLaren in the battle for the constructors’ title.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc endured technical difficulties on Friday as Ferrari was forced to change the battery in his SF-24. The penalty and a deleted lap time in qualifying meant that the Ferrari driver started from P19 on the grid.

While overtaking can be quite difficult at the Yas Marina Cirucit, especially when drivers form DRS trains, Leclerc had a sensational start to move up to P8 by the end of the opening lap. The Monegasque then moved further up the field, and a slightly earlier pit stop meant that he found himself up in P3 after all the top runners completed their mandatory tyre change.

Asked about whether he was satisfied with the brilliant recovery drive at the Yas Marina Circuit, Leclerc admitted that the disappointment caused by losing the teams’ title was bigger than the satisfaction after his surprise result.

“No, not really. I mean, again, I’m, of course, really happy about the race. But the disappointment is a lot bigger. You don’t win or lose a chairmanship in the last race.

“But obviously, it’s over the course of the season and after every single race. And McLaren has just done a better job than us. And congratulations to them. But it obviously hurts when you get to the last race. You know there’s an opportunity. It was a very difficult weekend, obviously, already with the penalty on Friday.

“It was never going to be easy. But after such a good first lap, the hopes were high. And yeah, we just came short of our dream, which was to win the Constructors’. So it hurts.”

Pushed on to comment on the season from Ferrari’s perspective, Leclerc said that while the Scuderia did “an incredible job” in the second part of the year, the issues from the first half of the season proved too significant to balance out in the end.

“I’m very happy because I think the first part of the season wasn’t easy. We were definitely not the fastest car. We were actually struggling for performance. The second part of the season, we’ve done an incredible job, mostly for improving the car in terms of pace.

“We’ve picked up a lot of pace. We were a lot closer to the guys in front, and actually on some races we were probably the fastest car and this is thanks to the team in Maranello, thanks to Carlos, thanks to me and the team back at the track as well to have done such a great job with the new upgrades.

“But I think the highlight of this season has definitely been the execution. Because to be fighting for the Constructors’ at the end of the year until the very last race, if you look at the performance we’ve had in the first part of the year, And that’s where I think we’ve done a particularly good job. So on that, I’m very proud,” concluded Leclerc.