Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is ready to turn the page on the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Ferrari delivered a P3 and a P4 result at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend. But it was a finish that not only brought some frustration within the team but may go into the books as a missed opportunity for the Scuderia should they fail to catch McLaren in the Constructors Championship. With the grid in Qatar for this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix — a circuit the team believes will not suit the SF-24 — Ferrari’s inability to maximize their opportunity in Las Vegas on a circuit that does fit their challenger may come back to haunt them.
As for the internal frustration, Charles Leclerc firmly believes in the catchphrase “[w]hat happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.”
Leclerc aired his frustrations over the radio at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, apparently frustrated at teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. passing him in the later stages despite multiple instructions not to put Leclerc, who was ahead of him at that stage, under pressure so Leclerc could conserve his tires. Asked about that, and reports that the team’s drivers met with Team Principal Frederic Vasseur to clear the air, at the FIA Press Conference Thursday Leclerc insisted on turning the page.
“I don’t want to go back to what happened in Vegas. Yeah, I mean, last two races of the season and we need to do absolutely everything in order to get that Constructors’ Championship,” began Leclerc on Thursday. “That’s all that matters. And whatever happened in Vegas, we discussed about it and we are all good, which is the most important thing. I had no doubts about that because we’ve always had a really good relationship with Carlos and we’ve had races where sometimes things don’t go exactly the way we want, but the most important thing is that we discuss about it and we go forward. It’s very clear for both of us that we just want to win the Constructors’ and it’s by working as a team that we’ll achieve that. And I’m sure that there won’t be any problems with it.”
Pressed on the matter later in the press conference Leclerc reiterated that not only does he have a “good” relationship with Sainz, he does not need any further assurances regarding the level of trust between the two drivers, and the team.
“Nothing special, but at the end, I don’t even need that,” said Leclerc. “As I said, we have a really good relationship with Carlos. And sometimes I have overstepped the lines, and sometimes he did. And then it only requires a discussion between us two. And we look ourselves in the eye, and we know each other since a very long time now. We understand each other very, very quickly. So I have no doubts.
“Sometimes we need these kind of things to reset a little bit and I have no doubts that going into the last race of the season there won’t be any problems or whatsoever because at the end it’s in the benefit for both of us to try and win that Constructors’ we know that an opportunity like that doesn’t happen very often and we’ve got to do absolutely everything on both of our side in order to try and win that,” continued Leclerc. “And we need each other in order to win that because it’s not going to be easy. This weekend is not going to be easy. And by working as a team, we can maybe achieve that.”
As for what Ferrari can achieve this weekend in Qatar, despite the belief that the Lusail International Circuit is not suited for the SF-24 Leclerc believes that if the team can take a big step forward in FP1, they can maximize
The F1 Sprint weekend, and surprise everyone.
Including themselves.
“I think that realistically here, it’s going to be a bit more of a difficult weekend. However, it’s a Sprint weekend as well. And if we do things really right from the first few laps and the car is in the right place from the first laps in FP1, it can make a big difference and much bigger than any of the car characteristics we may have seen or anticipate for the weekend,” described Leclerc. “So I think that on paper it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be our strongest track. However, things can still turn our way and we are super motivated to prove us wrong.”
Ferrari will start trying to prove everyone, including, themselves, wrong today in Qatar.
