Leclerc "surprised" by Ferrari's strong pace in Qatar
Having arrived in Qatar in a pessimistic mood, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has hailed the Scuderia for nailing the setup of his car and extracting the most of the package.
Ferrari had been expected to struggle for pace at the Qatar Grand Prix because of the track characteristics of the Lusail International Circuit. Although the team lost valuable points in the 19-lap sprint race, Charles Leclerc picked up the pieces when Lando Norris was hit with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty in the closing stages of the race to finish the race in a brilliant second spot.
Having expected a tough race at Lusail, Leclerc explained that his second-place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix exceeded his pre-weekend expectations.
"We expected this to be a difficult weekend for us so I’m happy with how the race went today, having made up some points on McLaren. We had some luck on my side and a bit less on Carlos’ with the puncture.
"We may have been able to finish second and third had it not been for that, which is a shame teamwise, but overall, it was positive to be this competitive here.
"We knew that it would be very difficult pace-wise. We expected McLaren to be very strong in terms of race pace. We maybe did not expect Max to be that strong, but he was super strong today.
"However, finishing second after such a weekend, where the track characteristics are very far off from the optimal of the track characteristics we need for our car, is a surprise. We got a little bit lucky, obviously on my side. A bit unlucky with Carlos and his puncture. But as a team, it's been a positive weekend.
"So yes, we exceeded our expectations because coming into the weekend, I kind of expected to lose a bit of points compared to McLaren here. However, we recovered some, so that's good.
Although McLaren displayed a stronger performance than Ferrari in Qatar, the Scuderia managed to reduce the gap to 21 points in the Constructors’ Championship. Asked to reveal what he expects in the final showdown, Leclerc reckoned that the point deficit is still significant, but the Scuderia won't give up until the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi.
"Driving for such an iconic team as Ferrari, it would be amazing for us to finish the season by bringing the constructors’ title back to Maranello.
"It won’t be easy to score the points we need to win the title in a single weekend, but everything is still possible and we will do absolutely everything to achieve it," concluded Leclerc.
