Scuderia Ferrari go into the final round of the championship at the newly configured Yas Marina Circuit, knowing that they have almost certainly secured third in the Constructors’ Standings, and that only a catastrophic weekend could take it away from them.
Charles Leclerc goes into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a tight battle with Lando Norris and his team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr, over fifth place in the Driver’s Championship. Leclerc currently sits in fifth but only has a slender lead over Norris.
The battle for fifth is a big one, Leclerc recognises this and will do all that he can to claim fifth spot, and enjoy the last race of the year.
“The fight with Lando (Norris) is still wide open. Clearly, I’d like to stay fifth, but most of all I want to enjoy myself. It’s been an intense season, which has seen us make constant progress and the fight for third place, which has come good in the final part of the year, is proof of that.”
“It’s been the best year of my career” – Carlos Sainz Jr.
As mentioned above Carlos Sainz Jr is still in the fight for fifth place, the Spaniard currently sits in seventh and will require a big result this weekend most likely to claim fifth. It would round off what has been a good first year at Ferrari for Sainz, who has gotten stronger as the year has passed.
Sainz goes into the final round of the championship believing that 2021 has been the best of his career, he will be hoping to cap the year off with another strong result.
“I’d say it’s been the best year of my career, in terms of my progress as a driver and as a person, because I found myself going through an experience that was completely different to anything I’d been through before, in the most historic Formula 1 team, which came with a lot more pressure. I think I made steady progress over the course of the season, improving my understanding with the team and of the car.
“That increased and in the last few races I reached a strong level. I want to enjoy this final weekend of 2021 and end it with a good result, maybe even giving a small thought to fifth or sixth in the classification.”
