Charles Leclerc: We didn’t expect McLaren to be so fast

In Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, the Ferrari team was only represented by Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth. His teammate Carlos Sainz’s car suffered a fuel leak shortly before the start, preventing the Spaniard from taking part in the race.

Charles Leclerc (5th): “We fully realized our potential in the race. In a way it was important to keep losses to a minimum as Carlos did not start. During the race I didn’t attack to the limit to guarantee I would reach the finish.

We expected the McLaren drivers to be fast, but we didn’t expect them to be as fast as they were this weekend. Mercedes also had a fast car and I don’t think George Russell attacked with full force either.

Physically, this was the toughest race of my career. This happened for several reasons: because of the high temperature and three pit stops – because of such a number of stops we drove every lap of the race almost in qualifying mode. As a result, we experienced much higher loads in high-speed corners.

A series of stages awaits us. We will do everything we can to finish the season on a high note, taking into account our battle in the Constructors’ Championship.”

Carlos Sainz (didn’t start): “I’m disappointed because I missed the opportunity to earn points. We know that motorsport can be brutal at times, and for me that is exactly the case. It’s a shame because I think we could have had a good race and earned the points we needed in the Constructors’ Championship.

As in any situation, we will draw conclusions from what happened. Now we have to concentrate on the remaining five races of the season.”

Frederik VasseurTeam boss: “We cannot be satisfied with how this weekend went as we lost points against our closest rivals and were unable to send Carlos to the grid due to technical problems.

In Charles’ case, however, we did everything we could. He drove excellently in extreme conditions and the mechanics made brilliant pit stops. We may have been slow in the middle because of traffic, but at least it would have been difficult to keep George Russell behind.

A chaotic weekend, held under very difficult conditions with several unexpected factors, such as problems with curbs and a technical fault on Carlos’ SF-23.

We go home with ten points after Charles’ fifth place. The team will start preparing for a structured series of American stages, which will also be very difficult.”