Charles Leclerc has admitted that his “hurt” at Ferrari missing out on the Formula 1 title overshadowed his comeback drive to the podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari‘s uphill task to overcome its 21-point deficit to McLaren escalated when it was announced that Leclerc would incur a 10-place grid drop for a new energy store.
Leclerc’s woes were compounded when a track limit violation at Turn 1 saw him be eliminated in Q2, which dropped him to the back row once his penalty was applied.
However, Leclerc capitalised on chaos ahead to gain 11 places on the opening tour to climb up to eighth, amounting to the “best first lap” that he has conducted in F1.
Oscar Piastri being spun around at Turn 1 heightened hope that Ferrari could produce a miraculous turnaround as Leclerc continued his charge to reach the top three.
But while team-mate Carlos Sainz accompanied Leclerc on the podium, Lando Norris’ win ensured that McLaren sealed the Constructors’ Championship by 14 points.
Asked whether he was satisfied with his result, Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week: “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 championship 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. 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.”
Leclerc denies Q2 exit cost Ferrari Abu Dhabi win shot
With Piastri recovering to 10th place, Ferrari would’ve snatched the crown had either Sainz or Leclerc been close enough to overtake Norris’ McLaren to steal the lead.
But Leclerc has denied that he might have been able to achieve that had he qualified further up, citing his grid drop meant he was resigned to lining up down the order.
“I mean, yesterday, I think P4 was probably the best, which would have been P14 or P15,” he highlighted.
“Then you never know what happens by starting P15, we’ll have had 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.”
READ MORE – McLaren seal F1 Constructors’ title as Lando Norris wins Abu Dhabi GP
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