Charles Leclerc feels that Ferrari working hard for the 2022 car will bear strong results and hopes he can challenge for the title.
Leclerc missed out on 5th in the Drivers’ Championship after a disappointing end to the season in Abu Dhabi. The Ferrari driver started the race on 5th, but a poor decision to pit under the first safety car, cost him.
He ended up finishing 10th and picked up just 1 point from the final outing of 2021. On the other hand, his teammate Carlos Sainz continued his streak of strong results and finished on a podium. The Spaniard came 3rd behind title protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Not the way I wanted to end the season at all, lost everything stopping during the first safety car and could never really come back.
A big congratulations to Carlos for the great drive today and of course a big congratulations to Max for winning his first World Championship !— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) December 12, 2021
Leclerc highlighted his disappointment at taking the safety car gamble after the race. The 24 year old admitted that his SF21 didn’t have enough pace to catch up with others after he dropped back.
“Obviously, with the first Safety Car we tried something different and went for the pit stop. Unfortunately, we lost too many positions that we could never catch back, not enough pace.” said Leclerc.
“It’s a shame, but congratulations to Carlos for the outstanding job today and for fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship.”
Also read: F1 expert degrades Mercedes’ behaviour of not showing up to FIA Prize-Giving Gala
Charles Leclerc wants to fight for the Title in 2022
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said long back that the Scuderia are more focused on the long term. The Italian team have spent most of this year focusing on how they can climb to the top in 2022.
Leclerc feels optimistic about how his team is working hard for next year. There are going to be massive regulation changes next time we see an F1 race, and it’s safe to say that Ferrari are prepared.
Last laps of 2021 done !
Now off to Maranello for a few days to keep working on 2022, then time to recharge for the new year. pic.twitter.com/LMsMofPLWG— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) December 14, 2021
“Hopefully we’ll have a better car next year to hopefully come back and fight for the title.” Leclerc continued. The Monegasque driver went on to say that these mistakes should not happen if they’re in a title fight.
“I have to take responsibility for it and live with it. I prefer it to happen in a year like this rather than once we’ll be fighting for the title.”
Charles Leclerc finished the season 7th in the Standings. He ends his campaign 5.5 points behind Sainz and 1 point behind McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Also read: Former F1 Champion insists Michael Masi was correct with his lap decision at the Abu Dhabi GP
