Charles Leclerc acknowledges Carlos Sainz’s might after Suzuka defeat, insists he ‘knows where he needs to work on’

Charles Leclerc ended his 2024 Japanese GP exploits in fourth place.

Charles Leclerc acknowledges Carlos Sainz’s might after Suzuka defeat, insists he ‘knows where he needs to work on’

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (Via IMAGO)

Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari F1 driver, produced a strong drive during the Japanese Grand Prix. But despite his heroics, he was only able to manage a fourth-place finish behind his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard has been in a hot vain of form since the start of the 2024 campaign and has pretty much had the upper hand of Charles Leclerc on most occasions. Carlos even managed a Grand Prix win during the Melbourne event.

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After Japan, Leclerc has taken the time to acknowledge the might of Sainz and has thus, wholeheartedly congratulated him on his third-place Suzuka finish.

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Congratulations to Carlos. He has done a great job. It's clear where I need work on, and it's qualifying. In Australia and here we had different strategies so it's hard to tell, but I know where I need to work on.
Charles Leclerc said post Japanese GP

The Monegasque has made it known that his qualifying performances have proven to be his Achilles heel during the ongoing season. Leclerc genuinely feels he needs to work on his single-lap pace to be on par with Sainz going forward.

Charles Leclerc pleased with Ferrari ‘maximizing points’ in 2024

While Charles Leclerc has admitted that he needs to do a bit of work going ahead into the 2024 season, he has also talked about how Ferrari as a team, is doing a good job. Leclerc is pleased with the Italian outfit maximizing points at every weekend.

Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc (via IMAGO)

The Maranello-based team has so far managed four podium finishes this year.

I think we are doing a good job to maximise the points, and hopefully, when we get the upgrades we can put them under pressure and hopefully take more points from them, and maybe at the end of the season we can fight with them.
Charles Leclerc said in the same interview

Seeing how things have panned out for Ferrari, Leclerc is optimistic going ahead. He believes that once upgrades are put on the SF-24, he and Carlos Sainz would further be able to put pressure on the high-flying Red Bull F1 team. After Japan, Ferrari is 21 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors Championship.

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