Back row motivates me to do something very special - Leclerc

Charles Leclerc views his back row starting position due to a grid penalty and a track limits violation as a motivating factor for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ferrari had to give Leclerc a new energy store after Friday, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty that ensured the best starting position he could secure was 11th on the grid. Leclerc looked competitive in qualifying but then had his best Q2 lap deleted for exceeding track limits, resulting in him dropping out early and starting on the back row. “ not so good after a qualifying like that,” Leclerc said. “We were a little bit better. It’s true that I don’t think we would have managed to beat the McLarens — they seemed too strong — but we could have been fourth. It was either P15 or P20 and P15 is better than P20. But if I get my lap time deleted it means we start from P20. “We are not making our life any easier. However, it motivates me to do something very special tomorrow. My goal remains the same: it’s to win the constructors’ championship. And I still believe in it as much as I did yesterday, even though on paper obviously it’s going to be hard.” Admitting the track limits violation was simply his own mistake, Leclerc says he is still believing Ferrari can overturn a 21-point deficit against McLaren to win the constructors’ title, despite Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row. “It’s very difficult — it’s obviously very difficult,” he said. “But it’s very difficult for everybody and I was on the wrong side of things in Q2 so I can only blame myself. “The race pace was OK, but McLaren seemed to be a lot stronger. We’ve changed the car quite a bit since FP3. I think we went in the right direction. If anything our tire degradation is better than others, so I would expect to be in a better position. “I believe in miracles. It makes our life very difficult, that’s for sure. But with the 10-place grid penalty it was always going to be difficult. But I see an opportunity to do something very special and I’ll do my best to do it. I’ll believe in it until the very last lap. Anything can happen.”