26 November 2023 , 19:23
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Charles Leclerc turned the air blue after Ferrari refused to let him perform donuts for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix crowd after the race.
Leclerc started the final race of the season in second place, tasked with out scoring Mercedes to help his team finish second in the championship. And he finished in the very same position - though it proved to not be enough.
The Monegasque tried everything he could, even allowing Sergio Perez through in the final laps. The Red Bull racer had a five-second time penalty and Leclerc tried to make it so that, by the time that was taken into account, Perez would finish third between himself and George Russell.
But he didn't manage it. Russell was less than four seconds adrift of Perez when he took the chequered flag and so the Brit only scored three points fewer than Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton added a couple more and Carlos Sainz wasn't in the top 10 at all.
Having done all he could, Leclerc wanted to at least give the crowd a little more entertainment. "Can I do some burnouts please?" he asked race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros over the radio.
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But the reply came: "No burnouts please. Straight to the grid." That annoyed Leclerc who retorted: "Argh, not even this for f*** sake," before complying with that order and parking the car behind the number two marker on the grid.
Despite Leclerc's angry response, Ferrari had a good reason to not want their driver to over-rev the car. The engine and gearbox fitted to it still need to be used for the post-season tyre and rookie tests at the Yas Marina Circuit this coming week.
Leclerc's attempt to use Perez to keep Russell at bay may have ultimately failed but the ingenuity of the plan still earned some praise. And team principal Frederic Vasseur clarified after the race that it was not a plan that Ferrari had discussed, but which his driver had come up with on the fly.
"Yeah, it was Charles, could have been a bit more aggressive and to try to slow down Russell," said the Frenchman. While disappointed to have missed out on second place in the championship, Vasseur was keen to look on the bright side and talked up the importance of ending the year with another podium.
"On the other end, I think for the team, it’s also important to finish on the positive tone," he continued. "Charles [was] P2 in the race and, to finish like this, I think it's a first good step for next year."