Charles Leclerc Congratulates Max Verstappen and Red Bull ‘for an incredible season’

Charles Leclerc finished third in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship’s Japanese Grand Prix after a five-second penalty was handed to him after he left the track and gained an advantage to keep second place on track.

The race saw Max Verstappen finally clinch his second Drivers’ World Championship. This also meant that it was the end of Leclerc’s personal Championship hopes, and he will look back on it as a missed opportunity with plenty of points lost throughout the season due to mechanical issues, driver errors, strategical mistakes and an inability to turn pole position into a race win.

The final mistake saw him slide across the run-off at the chicane on the final lap, with the stewards feeling he gained an advantage by doing so, with the five-second penalty promoting Sergio Pérez into second place and giving Verstappen the points advantage he needed to clinch the title.

Leclerc was out to delay the Red Bull celebrations but a lack of pace compared to Verstappen saw him fall back from the Dutchman very quickly in the twenty-eight laps of racing that were completed, with tyre graining the biggest problem he faced.

“I gave it my all, but it was a difficult race for us today. We were strong in warming up the tyres in the first few laps, but then it all faded away. Especially at the end, I struggled with front tyre degradation and it was really difficult to keep Checo (Perez) behind me.

“I congratulate Max (Verstappen) and Red Bull for an incredible season, they’ve done an excellent job and deserve the title.”

Leclerc is hoping the team can bounce back stronger in the 2023 season and “mount an even better challenge next year”, and he will start preparing for that by going all out across the final four races of this year.

“We will use the last four races to work on our race execution, tyre management and becoming a stronger team all-round so that we can mount an even better challenge next year. We’ve already been making steps in the right direction in the past two races and we will keep on pushing this way until the end.”

Carlos Sainz Describes the Japanese Grand Prix as “a tricky and disappointing Sunday”

Carlos Sainz Jr. had a Japanese Grand Prix to forget with an incident on lap one that saw him forced to retire from the race.

Sainz’s spin threw the car across the track and into the barrier, ripping debris and tyres off his car. Sainz was seen as lucky to not be collected by other cars as he flew across the racing line. The Spaniard would have been hoping to be battling with Leclerc and Sergio Pérez for a podium position after qualifying third on the grid on Saturday.

Sainz explained the lap-one incident and claimed he had zero visibility leading to the spin.

“A tricky and disappointing Sunday. By the time the race started the call between Intermediates and Wet tyres was very close, but to be honest with either tyre the visibility would have been zero, which was the biggest limitation. I tried to get out of Pérez’s spray and found myself in a big puddle, had aquaplaning and couldn’t do anything to hold the car.“

“At that moment my only concern was not being hit. I was in a dangerous position in the middle of the track and I knew the other drivers couldn’t see me. Luckily for everyone, nothing worse happened today. We’ll reset and go back at it in the USA. Congrats to Max Verstappen and Red Bull for the Championship title.“

Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office