Charles Leclerc collected the prize for his third place in the drivers' championship on Friday evening in Rwanda. The Monegasque admitted that the disappointment from missing out on the constructors' championship is still fresh. Despite the result, he's super excited for next season, as he revealed at the FIA prize-giving ceremony in Kigali.
Ferrari lost out on the constructor's title by just 14 points after 24 hard-fought races. Leclerc had a great race in Abu Dhabi, making up many grid positions after starting from 19th place, eventually finishing in third. After the race on Sunday, he was disappointed that the Scuderia couldn't win the constructors championship in Carlos Sainz's last season with the team. Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will replace him in 2025.
Leclerc is 'hungry' for the title:
Leclerc is already prepared to jump straight back into racing action. "I am very hungry for next year. Obviously, the disappointment is still fresh from the last race, and it was last week. We have been fighting with McLaren until the last race. But they have just done better over the whole season. They deserve the title, and my congratulations go to them and to Max," he began.
Despite the late disappointment, there were many memorable moments for the Monegasque throughout the season. Leclerc won at home in Monaco, as well as at the home of Ferrari in Monza. It was also special for him to drive with his little brother during free practice in Abu Dhabi. "So all in all, a lot of positive moments in a season like this, but of course, coming second or third is not what we want. We want to win. But the second half of the season was super positive for the team, and I'm looking forward to trying to take fighting for the championship finally." Leclerc concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
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Well, one of the most important things he has to do to maintain his reputation as being one of the top drivers in the field and a genuine future WDC contender is to make sure he beats his new team mate. His good friend Russell was able to do so, so if he gets beaten by a 40 year old team mate, then his reputation will be taking a bit of a hit.
I’ve never seen Russell pull off a drive like Hamilton did in Vegas and Abu Dhabi. Don’t write off the old champ yet. If the Ferrari is fast and suits him, he’ll be dangerous for sure. Hopefully ‘25 will be a Max, Lewis, Lando, Charles, Oscar showdown. Russell will experience what it’s like to have a young, hungry teammate next year.
Yeah, but would Antonelli be consistent in his performance and limit crashes to give George some stiff competition.
Time will tell. Crashes or not, If he’s faster when he doesn’t crash, George will not be amused. George may have been more consistent than Lewis, but if Lewis was fast, he was always way faster than George, especially on Sundays. Despite the problems, the W13, 14 and 15 were still upgrades for George, compared to the Williams. Lewis on the other hand, downgraded from a top contender car to an absolute traktor. Mentally these are very different situations to deal with: optimism and hope, vs pessimism and despair. And added to Lewis’s mental pressure was a hungry young teammate with a positive mindset. Give Lewis a well balanced, predictable car and he’ll destroy George over a season. Imo, upgrading is mentally way easier than downgrading, especially in the case of a driver who’s had a very good car throughout his career.
In theory that would actually imply it's no great shakes to beat a 40 year old 'over the hill' 7 times WC surely
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