Second, Leclerc would have "signed with both hands" for such a result

Charles Leclerc had imagined after the Sprint race this Saturday that he could be in better shape during the Grand Prix than in qualifying, but the final result on the Losail circuit still exceeded his expectations. The Monegasque crossed the finish line behind Max Verstappen, but in front of the McLaren byOscar piastri, after a disjointed second half of the race, which notably saw Lando Norris receive a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. Even better for the Team, she took points back from the Woking team this Sunday, on a track which should not have favoured them.

"I'm really happy, I would have signed with both hands for a second position! After a weekend like this, on a circuit like this, which does not match the strengths of our car, we knew it would be very difficult compared to the McLarens. Finally, we manage to take back points from them, and the battle will continue until the finale in Abu Dhabi next weekend."

21 points to catch up

The picture is not entirely idyllic for Ferrari, however, since Carlos Sainz suffered a puncture during the event. This alert on the car The Spaniard's crash, caused by debris or aggressive kerbs, was however ignored by Leclerc, who did not want to sacrifice a single tenth in such a tight title fight with McLaren.

“I don’t know if the punctures were from the debris or the way you have to navigate the kerbs. I ignored my engineer’s requests not to go over the kerbs because it would have cost me too much time, so I hoped I wouldn’t get a puncture myself. I stayed to the left on the straight hoping I wouldn’t get caught out and it worked. It’s a shame for Carlos because it would have been good for the team to have two cars in front, but it’s still a positive weekend for the team.”

Now it's off to Abu Dhabi, where the final round of the world championship will be held next weekend. With a 21-point deficit to McLaren, Ferrari is not arriving in a strong position, but after a successful weekend on a circuit that is on paper "weak" for the SF-24, all dreams are possible: "It's hard to know who will have the advantage, we are all very close, it will be very tight, and it's exciting. There are still 21 points to go for, it's a lot, but everything is possible and we will give it our all."

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