Leclerc reveals why he doesn’t “have any real expectations” for 2026 despite his faultless drive in Abu Dhabi

On the back of a disastrous Qatar Grand Prix a week ago, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc delivered a faultless drive at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, albeit he still missed out on a podium finish at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Following a tough start to the weekend, Ferrari delivered a significantly improved performance on Sunday. Charles Leclerc started from fifth on the grid, but he immediately managed to pick off George Russell to move up into fourth place.

The Monegasque then kept the title favourite honest for the majority of the race. However, despite getting relatively close to Norris midway through the race, he was unable to mount an attack and missed out on a podium finish.

His team-mate, Lewis Hamilton suffered a shock early exit in qualifying by having been eliminated in Q1 for the third consecutive time. The Briton elected to start on the softs which enabled him to make up a few positions in the opening stages of the race.

He then made an early switch to the hard tyre. Although he dropped to the back of the field after his early stop, he made a series of overtaking manoeuvres to climb up the field.

His second stop saw him drop back again as he rejoined the track in P19. However, he was extremely quick once again, making up places after places, but his tyres started to lose grip in the closing stages of the race which meant he was unable to pick off Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso and had to settle for an eighth place.

Explaining his season-ending race in Abu Dhabi, Leclerc said: “I gave it everything and our team executed the race perfectly. Unfortunately, P4 was all there was in it for us today.

“I really wanted to finish the season on a high, bringing home a podium for everyone, and I was close to Lando (Norris) in a few moments of the race, but it was not enough to make a pass.

On the back of Lando Norris’ maiden F1 title, Leclerc added: “Congratulations to Lando for his first title. He has been doing an incredible job of driving this year and it’s fully deserved.

“A huge thank you to our whole team, both at the track and at home in Italy, for all the hard work put in this year, as well as our Tifosi for their ongoing support. It’s been a tough season for us.”

Ahead of the sweeping technical changes that will come into force next season, Leclerc admitted that nobody can have a “real expectations” until the brand-new cars complete their first laps during pre-season testing.

“Next season is still a blank slate, and we don’t know where the other teams stand, so we don’t have any real expectations yet. After this week, we will head back to Maranello to regroup, and our job will be to focus all our efforts on preparing for the season ahead as best as we can.”

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