As the chequered flag fell at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, Charles Leclerc ended his 2024 season on a bittersweet note. Despite his storming recovery drive to the podium and his teammate Carlos Sainz finishing P2, Ferrari fell short of the championship by just 14 points.
The Monégasque driver started the race weekend on the back foot when he received a 10-place grid penalty for taking on a new battery. However, his troubles only grew after a Q2 exit for breaching track limits and starting from P19 on the grid on Sunday.
With Max Verstappen colliding with Oscar Piastri and Leclerc gaining an extraordinary eleven places on the opening lap of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, a small window of opportunity opened for Ferrari. Unfortunately, the Ferrari drivers had no answer for the superior race pace of the MCL38 as Lando Norris sailed to victory and sealed the fate of the championship.
In the post-race press conference, Leclerc spoke at length about his mindset going into the race and his feelings after losing the title to McLaren in a closely contested battle. Commending the performance gains Ferrari has made, he also talked about their highlight of the season. Furthermore, the 27-year-old shared his thoughts on their championship chances in 2025 and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton joining the team.
Unable to attack Norris starting from the back at F1 Abu Dhabi GP
Addressing the incredible number of places he gained on lap 1, Leclerc admitted that he was willing to take risks at the start in order to put himself in a competitive position for the rest of the race.
At the same time, the Monégasque lamented that he started too far back to put any meaningful pressure on the eventual race winner, Norris.
“Yeah, I knew I had to be very aggressive. So I knew that in lap 1, I had to take all the risks possible in order to gain as many places as possible, to then be in a good position for the rest of the race. This [was] achieved.
“But then, unfortunately, we were just starting too far back to do anything better than what we’ve done today. I think we’ve done the maximum. It hurts, obviously, because the season was so close until the end.”
McLaren doing a better job overall during the 2024 F1 season
Despite admitting that he was satisfied with his stellar recovery drive from P19 to P3 at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, Leclerc stated that the feeling of disappointment was overwhelming.
Nonetheless, he congratulated McLaren for doing a better job over the course of the season and confessed that it was disheartening to lose the title after extending the fight to the last race.
The Ferrari driver also explained that the grid penalty severely compromised his weekend from the get-go. Elaborating that his opening lap provided the much-needed motivation, Leclerc conceded that the SF-24 didn’t have the pace to beat the McLaren of Norris on track.
“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. 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’ title. So it hurts.”
A better qualifying result at F1 Abu Dhabi GP wouldn’t have changed title outcome
With regard to the possibility of challenging for the win if he had qualified higher, Leclerc responded he still would’ve started in the middle of the pack because of the grid penalty.
Asserting that his lap 1 recovery made up for the positions he had lost due to the Q2 exit, the Ferrari driver claimed that he didn’t harbour any regrets.
“I mean, yesterday, I think P4 was probably the best, which would’ve been P14 or P15. Then you never know what happens by starting P15. Will we have won anyway 11 positions?
“I think it’s a long shot to say that. So yeah, all in all, I think my first lap recovered basically everything that we’ve had since the beginning of the weekend. So I don’t have any regrets.”
Execution being the highlight of Ferrari’s 2024 F1 campaign
In spite of the loss, Leclerc commented that he was really satisfied with the season Ferrari put together. Acknowledging the contribution of every single member of the team, he underscored the performance gains they had made since the beginning of 2024 in order to have the fastest car on certain tracks in the second half of the season.
Emphasising how the title fight went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi despite their struggles to find performance earlier in the year, Leclerc singled out the improvement they have made in the area of execution as his highlight of the season.
“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 [Sainz], 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’ [championship] 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.”
Optimistic about titles hopes in 2025
On the topic of rebuilding during the winter break and giving both championships another shot next season, Leclerc responded, “Yeah, I really hope so.”
The eight-time race winner highlighted the huge step forward they have taken in the second half of 2024 in terms of putting themselves in contention for the title after struggling in the first part of the season.
Complimenting the teamwork he has done alongside Sainz, Leclerc also proclaimed that the Scuderia intends to start strong next year after an encouraging end to their 2024 campaign.
“I mean, if we look at our first part of the year, we were nowhere near being in the fight for the constructors’ [title].
“Then the second part of the season was really good and the team has done an incredible job. I think Carlos and I have done a really good job as well together.
“So, yeah, we ended strong, and I’m sure that next year we’ll hopefully start as strong as what we have ended this year.”
Excited about Hamilton joining Ferrari next season and appreciative of journey with Sainz as teammates
In terms of having the greatest driver of all time as his teammate next year, Leclerc responded that he is really excited about his arrival and that the Brit is a big source of motivation.
Showing reverence to his outgoing teammate, the 27-year-old, however, proceeded to talk about Sainz again. He remarked that they have pushed each other to grow as drivers and that winning the constructors’ championship at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP would’ve served as a fitting end to their journey together.
“Yeah, of course. I mean, Lewis [Hamilton] has achieved so much in the sport and it will be a big motivation.
“But obviously for now, it’s more thinking about the past year and the past years I’ve done with Carlos [Sainz]. We’ve had an amazing relationship. We’ve pushed each other.
“I really hoped that we could finish these four years together with a constructors’ title. We both gave it all.
“It wasn’t enough. So obviously now the disappointment is here. And yeah, now I will have four or five days to reset and start thinking about next year then.”
