It has been a mixed season for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after he took stunning victories in Monaco, Monza and Austin but missed out on securing the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari had to overcome a 21-point deficit in Abu Dhabi and it looked like a possibility when Max Verstappen spun out Oscar Piastri in the first few meters of the race.
Leclerc drove a first lap described as ‘epic’ by Anthony Davidson, picking off four cars at Turn 6 while he made his way up to P11 from P19 on the grid.
Part of the reason why Leclerc started so far back was because Ferrari took a 10-place grid penalty for changing engine components, however, things got worse when he had a lap time deleted in qualifying for track limits.
Having only made it through to Q2, Leclerc was put into the drop zone and forced to start from the back of the pack. Discussing Leclerc’s form over the season on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor believes there is one error he must avoid making next year.
Charles Leclerc must stop making track limits mistake in 2025
The lap time being deleted in Abu Dhabi came after another under-pressure moment in Singapore, when Leclerc looked on course for a front-row start.
Instead, his only lap was deleted, forcing him to start from P7 and preventing any chance of winning the race. Windsor thinks this is an area Leclerc must prevent, knowing it is costing him and Ferrari.
“He made that unbelievable mistake in Q2 of track limits [at Turn 1 in Abu Dhabi]. That’s not what you expect from Charles Leclerc, a driver at his level with that responsibility he has at Ferrari,” said Windsor.
“It’s not what you expect from Max Verstappen, we sometimes see Oscar Piastri do it, but Charles has been around long enough not to make that mistake.
“It is probably a tyre-warming thing and there is mitigating circumstances to what he did. But for me, that is what he should be taking into the winter, and how he can ensure that doesn’t happen again.”
Charles Leclerc close to breaking Ferrari record previously held by Sebastian Vettel
Despite the setbacks in qualifying, Leclerc’s season has been one of his strongest to date having achieved 13 podiums.
The run of top-three finishes means he is now on 43 podiums for Ferrari, which puts Leclerc just 12 away from Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel achieved 55 podiums during his six seasons at Ferrari, which is also the same as Rubens Barrichello when the Brazilian drove for the team between 2000 and 2005.
Given Leclerc’s success this season and him likely to have a car next year that is competitive, we could see Vettel and Barrichello’s record toppled.
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