Charles Leclerc arrived in the Abu Dhabi paddock on good form off the back of his great second place in Las Vegas. “I think it was a good confidence boost, we knew we would have a chance of doing well and we managed it. We could have done even better and won, but the important thing is that the SF-23 delivered, confirming we are going in the right direction in terms of development.”
Clear goals. Leclerc is aware that this weekend, the gaps between those behind Red Bull will be much smaller than they were at the last race. “I think that so far we have done a good job, but having said that, we know the fight with Mercedes will go down to the wire,” added Leclerc. “Of course we are here in a positive frame of mind after going well in the last few races, even if historically, Mercedes has always gone well here. It will be very close and it will all be down to the small details in terms of who does the best job of optimising their car set-up in free practice.”
Summing up. The Monegasque also gave his opinion on the season as a whole. “We can’t deny it’s been disappointing. After last year, we thought we could fight for the title, but right from the first race we realised that would not be the case. We have made a lot of progress over the year and that gives me confidence for the future, even if the gap to Red Bull is still pretty big.”