Ferrari’s ideal scenario of having both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz starting at the front in Abu Dhabi was left in tatters as the Monegasque exited qualifying in Q2, with his 10-place grid penalty consigning him to a back-of-the-grid start.
With the constructors’ title on the line this weekend, the situation going into the Grand Prix has gone from bad to worse for Leclerc after the 27-year-old was handed the penalty on Friday after Ferrari were forced to replace the energy store in his car.
As a result, qualifying near the top of the order in Abu Dhabi became all the more important given Ferrari’s hopes of winning the title – the Scuderia are currently 21 points behind leaders McLaren. However, Leclerc’s Q2 effort, which had originally sent him into P1, was deleted for track limits at Turn 1, leaving him in P14.
That will mean a start at the back of the grid for the Grand Prix with Leclerc now forced into executing a major recovery drive if Ferrari still hope to overhaul McLaren – a challenge made all the more difficult with the papaya team’s front row lock out.
Speaking after qualifying, Leclerc said: “I’m not feeling – obviously – great. It’s a difficult one to take and it’s definitely not the right moment for this to happen.
“Between the engine penalty and the lap time deleted, we are not in the strongest position tomorrow. I’ll give it all to try and turn the situation around tomorrow.
“Obviously this one is on me. It’s not been an easy weekend but I still feel everything is possible and I’ll do my best.
“I’ll believe in it until the very end. We’ll do everything in order to make it a special Sunday.”
Meanwhile, it was a more successful session for his team mate Sainz, who qualified in third behind pole-sitter Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in his final race weekend with Ferrari before his move to Williams.
The Spaniard was just over two-tenths adrift of the lead McLaren, previously claiming the top spot in Q2 before Norris found what Sainz described as “a little advantage” to put the papaya team in the best place to chase down their first constructors’ title since 1998.
“I’m going to give it everything,” Sainz said. “Already today, I was pushing in qualifying like never before because I wanted pole position and I wanted to give myself a good chance for tomorrow as it might be my last battle for a win or for a podium [for] a while.
“At the same time, enjoying as much as possible this last weekend, pushing flat out, and tomorrow [there is] nothing to lose so we will go for it.
“I think we’ve made some good progress through the weekend. I think McLaren have showed all weekend that they’re a bit of a step ahead compared to everyone really, and we were just there behind. Still a race to do tomorrow and we will give it everything to see if we can win that race and give ourselves the best chance.”
