It might not have been the podium finish that he had hoped for, but Charles Leclerc showed no sign of bitterness as he ended his race on the Marina Bay Street Circuit in P5, saying, “Today was a good race… We maximised our potential today and our execution was really good.”
Monegasque Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc made the best of the cards he had been dealt at the Singapore Grand Prix over the weekend.
Both he and his teammate, Carlos Sainz, experienced a disappointing Q3 phase: the Spaniard crashed into the barrier on his out lap, while Leclerc was sanctioned for exceeding track limits. This meant that neither Ferrari recorded a valid time and the drivers were therefore forced to settle for P9 and P10.
Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur admitted it had been “a tough Saturday, maybe the most frustrating of the season so far”.
Ahead of the race, Leclerc said of his qualifying result, “It’s a shame because this puts us on the back foot for the race, so we have to keep our expectations realistic.”
From P9 to P5
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old Monegasque appeared motivated and determined as he entered his car on Sunday 22nd September, and he fought valiantly to improve his position once the lights went out on the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
It wasn’t until Lap 36 that Leclerc pitted for fresh tyres, long after many of the other drivers on the track. He had benefitted well from Ferrari’s chosen strategy until that point; he was in P4 as he headed into the pits, behind the two McLarens, race leader Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque found himself caught in traffic once he returned to the track and dogged Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso until he could overtake on Lap 41.
Two laps later, a call went out from the Ferrari garage asking Sainz to swap positions with his teammate, allowing Leclerc to move up to P6 and begin his chase of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
With just 10 laps to go, Leclerc moved past his future teammate at Ferrari to secure P5. He continued on in pursuit of Mercedes’ George Russell and came very close, but it wasn’t to be.
“We maximised our potential today and our race execution was really good,” he said post-race. “The first stint was a bit frustrating and long for me; it required a lot of patience, staying steady behind slower cars ahead. On the second stint, things looked better and we had a really good pace in clean air… Towards the end of the race, when it was time to overtake George, my rear tyres were not in the best shape and we didn’t manage to gain that position, but we did a good job anyway. Overall, it isn’t the most satisfying weekend for us, but as a team, we can be proud of turning things around and bringing home this P5 today.”
With Sainz finishing in P7, the duo added 18 points to Ferrari’s tally in the Constructors’ Standings. Leclerc maintains his third place in the Drivers’ Standings, behind Norris in second and Verstappen in first.
The grid now has almost a month’s break. Racing will resume on 20th October in Austin for the United States Grand Prix.
Read related:
Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Tik Tok.
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre