F1, Ferrari: Charles Leclerc does not hide disappointment

The Rossa driver had to settle for fourth place behind teammate Carlos Sainz

Interviewed at the end of the Brazilian GP – in which he collected a miraculous fourth place after colliding, in the opening stages of the race, with Lando Norris – Charles Leclerc spoke bluntly about the difficulties he encountered in the race, making no secret of his desire to turn the page immediately and think about Abu Dhabi, the last round of the season in a disappointing 2022.

“The incident with Norris? Honestly I think I left enough room for the Englishman, but obviously I will have to look back at what happened. It seems to me that he lost the rear of his car, then he over-extended his braking, touched me, and I ended up on the wall,” he began at Sky Sports microphones. “After the accident everything got complicated. But I managed to finish a good comeback, the race pace was interesting. Of course, we didn’t have the pace of the Mercedes, but still it was good,” continued the Monegasque.

Regarding the possibility that, in the final stages of the race, Carlos Sainz would give him the podium position – a request not granted by the Red’s race wall – Leclerc was lapidary: “I have to focus only on what I do. Next time I’ll make sure I’m in a better position. Overall it was quite a frustrating weekend. I want to go straight to Abu Dhabi and end the year,” Leclerc concluded.

Charles Leclerc is the third driver from the Principality to have participated in the Formula 1 World Championship after Louis Chiron and Olivier Beretta, as well as the youngest ever to have won a Grand Prix driving a Ferrari single-seater. In 2019, he made his debut with the Rossa, taking Kimi Raikkonen’s place, and in March he scored his first career pole position, in Bahrain. His first success with the Prancing Horse came at the Spa circuit in Belgium on September 1, 2019.