Q&A LECLERC ON HIS SIGN-OFF F2 WIN

Charles Leclerc ended his Formula 2 season in swashbuckling style with a charge from seventh on the grid to seal a final category win in dramatic circumstances on the last lap of the season finale, after contact with ART Grand Prix’s Alexander Albon at Abu Dhabi’s Turn 7 hairpin.

How did it feel to sign off the season in style? Last year we didn’t have the chance to end the championship on a win [in GP3, where Leclerc crashed out after contact, also in Abu Dhabi], so to end this one with a win was great. Also the way we did it was also very great – I think it’s probably one of the best races I had this season.

We managed the tyres very well – we had to wait a little bit at the beginning because the pace of the top four was a bit too quick, pushed at the end, and in the end our strategy worked. I’m very happy with this and also with the very exciting last lap – it couldn’t have ended in a better way.

Was it one of your best-judged races in terms of tyre management?

Yeah, definitely. It was actually quite a hard race because there was quite a lot of degradation on the soft tyres in Abu Dhabi. I was very happy to finish the season on a point that I wanted to improve a lot – [managing] the degradation of the tyres and to show we were on top of it for the last race.

What happened on the last lap?

To be honest, I lunged on the inside in Turn 7 just so he saw me and [would] leave space, lose time, and for me to be able to overtake him after that. But I was very far back so he probably didn’t see me and we touched a little bit – but that helped me to then get better traction than him and I got alongside.

It was quite exciting on the straight. I was a bit slower and so I had to get back in the slipstream all the time. Then, at the end we were on the far inside of the track so I couldn’t really see the panels on the outside for my braking point. So, I just hoped he was braking at the right point and I [decided I] would brake one metre later, and that’s what I did.

Was it your most satisfying F2 win?

Yeah, probably, because we had a difficult weekend overall and I think this has helped this feeling be even greater. We had a difficult qualifying when I struggled quite a bit and sent the team in the wrong direction with the set-up.

Then we had quite a good first race – we came back to third before the last corner [where Leclerc obeyed a team order to give the place to team-mate Antonio Fuoco] and at the end finished second because of the disqualifications [of Fuoco and Oliver Rowland]. And then in race two starting seventh [and getting] to first.

I think it was a really great weekend of coming back to the pace when we were struggling and trying. To win [in this way] after a great season like that feels amazing. All in all, I think it was an amazing weekend.