Charles Leclerc has claimed that Ferrari wouldn’t have achieved the “perfect season” in Formula 1 even had it beaten McLaren to the title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari missed out on the Constructors’ Championship at the Yas Marina Circuit last weekend as the team’s double podium wasn’t enough to overturn McLaren’s lead.
The Maranello-based squad coming up 14 points short has meant its title drought since 2008 has extended into 2025, which will deliver the arrival of Lewis Hamilton.
However, Leclerc, who ended the campaign third in the Drivers’ Championship, has denied that Ferrari’s 2024 would have been complete with the Constructors’ crown.
“A perfect season? No. Because I would only rate a perfect season if we win,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week prior to the season finale.
“And even when we win the Drivers’ and the Constructors’, probably there’s always something we can do better. So, not a perfect season.”
Leclerc heralds Ferrari execution in 2024
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has pinpointed the mid-season dip which saw it lose “80 or 90 points” to McLaren as the period which cost his team the championship.
The Italian marque had begun the campaign in encouraging shape until an update package in Spain induced accentuated bouncing which hindered the squad’s pace.
But while he’s recognised the SF-24 wasn’t competitive enough in that run, Leclerc has argued Ferrari maximising that stint was decisive to its eventual title challenge.
“However, a very good season in terms of execution-wise,” he continued. “I think we executed always at a very, very high level.
“This is why today we are still in the fight for the Constructors’, because if you look at the performance in itself, at the beginning of the season, I don’t think we would have believed anybody that would have said that we would be in the fight for the Constructors’ at the last race.
“The performance was not good enough. However, we worked extremely well.
“We had a really massive improvement throughout the year and in the difficult weekends, we didn’t demotivate ourselves.
“We maximised all the points possible. That means that we are still in the fight today.
“So, execution-wise, we were at a very high level. Performance, a little bit less than the first half.”
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