Charles Leclerc admitted that he had “no phrases” following the tip of what proved to be an “extremely powerful” Qatar Grand Prix weekend, with the Monegasque crossing the road in eighth place whereas staff mate Lewis Hamilton was outdoors of the factors in twelfth.
After lining up in P10 on the grid, Leclerc initially dropped locations earlier than gaining some again following the early Security Automotive part resulting from a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly forward.
Isack Hadjar’s retirement within the latter levels additionally gave Leclerc one other place to place him in P8 and thus declare 4 factors on the end, however the Ferrari driver admitted that it had been a difficult few days on the Lusail Worldwide Circuit.
“It’s been extremely powerful – a really irritating weekend,” the 28-year-old defined. “We’ve simply been nowhere from the primary lap to the final lap. I’ve no phrases. It’s simply very disappointing to see that quantity of efficiency, and I simply hope that we are able to end on a better observe in Abu Dhabi.”
Pushed on what his mindset shall be coming into into the season finale – which takes place in a matter of days from December 5-7 – Leclerc responded: “The mindset will for positive be motivated to try to flip the scenario round, to not less than go on vacation with a bit bit extra happiness, however I can not promise that. We’ve not seen that wherever at present.”
On the opposite aspect of the storage, Hamilton bounced again from a P17 grid slot by climbing up the order in the beginning, having bolted on the gentle tyre for the opening stint.
The Briton then misplaced out through the Security Automotive interval and slipped backwards, together with his night ending in a closing results of P12.
“We went forwards – I had a extremely good begin, like the primary lap, and made loads of progress,” Hamilton mirrored on his launch afterwards.
“I couldn’t imagine when the Security Automotive got here out on Lap 7, as a result of that was the Security Automotive lap the place, if one comes out, everybody stops, after which I needed to double-stack clearly and I misplaced locations, in order that was positively irritating.
“After which after that everybody’s stopping on the identical lap – not an amazing race to be racing in.”
With only one race remaining in his maiden marketing campaign as a Ferrari driver, Hamilton stated of his method heading into the season finale: “It’s about getting by Abu Dhabi after which making all of the adjustments which can be obligatory after that for subsequent yr.”
The Scuderia’s end in Qatar signifies that the squad at the moment are confirmed in fourth place of the Teams’ Championship, with the outfit not in a position to catch Mercedes and Red Bull forward of them.
