Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc won’t look back to the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix with as much fondness as the race’s debut on the Formula 1 calendar.
Charles Leclerc was simply superb in 2023 when the Las Vegas Grand Prix made a dramatic and tiring return to F1.
The Ferrari driver’s last-lap move on Sergio Perez capped off a fantastic debut race in Sin City.
However, despite finishing third and fourth, team principal Frederic Vasseur may be slightly underwhelmed given the expectations of the team.
Mercedes delivered an unexpected one-two finish, meaning Ferrari couldn’t put the dent in McLaren’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship that they would have liked.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
608 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
584 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
555 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
425 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
86 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
50 |
| 7 |
Alpine F1 Team |
49 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
0 |
Carlos Sainz ended up on the podium and with a move to Williams looming, the Spaniard may have achieved his last top-three finish for some time.
Leclerc and Sainz weren’t happy after the race in Las Vegas, with indecision and unclear radio messages once again slipping into Ferrari’s strategy.
Eddie Jordan was speaking on the Formula For Success Podcast about Leclerc’s reaction to finishing fourth and his former designer Gary Anderson also gave his opinion.
Eddie Jordan shocked by Charles Leclerc’s outburst at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Leclerc was furious after the race in Las Vegas, and reflecting on his radio messages, Jordan said: “So listen, funny enough that you said, because you talked about attitude, behaviour, and the vibe.
“Tell me what your take was on Leclerc’s outburst on the F-word expletives, I mean, there must have been about 10 of them.
“I was quite shocked because, look, I know Charles lives here in Monaco, and he’s just a nice, nice boy.
“I never thought I would ever hear that kind of stuff. What’s your take on the weekend?”
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Anderson replied and said: “It’s one of those sorts of things.
“[In] the heat of the moment, people say stuff. We’ve all done that in the heat of the moment.
“But it’s one of these sorts of situations got there at Ferrari, I think, where, since he’s [Sainz] leaving at the end of this year, there’s always an inter-team battle, and it seems to be they’re always having a bit of a go at each other.
“I think for Leclerc, it sort of boiled over a bit, to be honest, this weekend. [I] don’t understand it all, because I didn’t see anything that far wrong with it.
“So I think it was all that boiled up in Leclerc’s mind. He just couldn’t quite get the job done, to be honest. It all boiled up, and he just let it out at the end of the race.”
Charles Leclerc preparing for Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari in 2025
Leclerc and Sainz have helped develop Ferrari’s most competitive car in years.
The frustration for Sainz will be having to walk away from the team this winter to make way for Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton will hope that driving for F1’s most iconic team will help him challenge and win an unprecedented eighth world championship.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Leclerc has finished ahead of all of his Ferrari teammates up to this point, including multiple world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton will pose a very different challenge for the Monegasque driver and it’ll be fascinating to see whether one driver is eventually favoured over the other.
Leclerc should have an advantage in qualifying, but as Hamilton showed in Las Vegas, his race pace is still extraordinary.
