Leclerc regrets a starting position which deprives him of the podium at Suzuka: “I only have myself to blame”

Starting from 8th place on the starting grid for the Japanese GP, Charles Leclerc knew he would have a lot of work to do to get big points this Sunday. The Monegasque nevertheless had a very solid race, finishing in 4th place, thanks in particular to a daring but successful strategy with just one stop – compared to two for all the other drivers. Remarkable in the management of his tires, the driver of the Team was able to move up the hierarchy thanks to a great effort, but also to the failed gamble of McLaren with Lando Norris.

Satisfied with his race, Charles Leclerc nevertheless retained a touch of bitterness at the microphone of Canal+, after the Grand Prix. Still frustrated by his poor performance in qualifying on Saturday, he regretted that his starting position did not allow him to secure a podium, while his teammate Carlos Sainz – 4th on the grid – finished just ahead of him. The Monegasque, however, ends this Japanese weekend with the honorary title of Driver of the Day at Suzuka.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 4th in the Japanese GP : “[It’s a result] which can be explained by yesterday’s poor qualification. If we just look at today, we did a great job. We are the only car to have only made one stop, which means we managed the tires really well. On this point, we can be satisfied. Afterwards, I was disappointed to only start 8th, but I can only blame myself and yesterday's qualification. (…) It was normal that [Carlos Sainz] tried [to overtake me], that he tried his luck, he had a lot more performance at that moment. We were on a completely different strategy. There wasn't much he could do against Carlos at that point in the race. »

“If I just look at today's race, I'm very satisfied. Afterwards, you have to look at the weekend as a whole, and it wasn't crazy because we qualified 8th, and that's mainly why we weren't on the podium. For the team, it's the same with Carlos third, but for me, I would have liked to do better. We will work to improve that, but it's always nice to have a race like this where we showed that the tire management was good, and the performance too. Now we have to put everything in order, hoping to regain some feeling in qualifying, because it's been two races since we haven't managed to get the tires to the right temperature even though it was one of our strengths. »

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