F1 News: "It's the place we deserved" - Charles Leclerc does not hold back his thoughts after qualifying 3rd for 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP

In the final qualifying session of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc set the third-fastest time to secure P3 ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.

The Monegasque will be starting the main race on Sunday from the second row behind both Red Bulls, with his teammate Carlos Sainz aside him in P4. This race will determine whether Leclerc finishes the season in second or third, in his battle against the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who will be starting the race from the front row.

In a post-qualifying interview, Charles Leclerc admitted that he deserved a result no better than P3 this evening given Ferrari's deficit in pace and performance against Red Bull all weekend. He said:

"I locked up in Turn 6 and 7, but it’s the place we deserved today. The Red Bulls were stronger, but we are still in quite a good position for tomorrow, it’s going to be close with Checo, for sure. I’m sure we can work together too with Carlos, I have no doubt on that. We’ll try to maximise the team result. We know Red Bull are a bit stronger on Sundays so we know it’s going to be tricky, but we are going to give it all and hopefully we can get that second place in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships."

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Charles Leclerc says Ferrari "lacked a bit of pace" in Abu Dhabi

Ferrari have shown decent pace in Abu Dhabi all weekend, with Charles Leclerc finishing both of Friday's free practice sessions in the top three and ultimately taking P3 in qualifying. The 25-year-old admitted that the car has lacked pace during the last few races, although their qualifying pace has generally been alright.

In a media interaction on Friday, the Ferrari driver admitted that his focus will remain on improving race performance. He said:

“It was a clean Friday, at least, which [for] a long time we didn’t have – this is good. On the other hand, we seemed to lack a little bit of pace, especially on the race runs. [Our] quali runs seem to be okay, but this is no surprise, as it’s been the case for the last few races. We just need to try and find a little bit of performance for the race. That’s definitely where our focus will be. Whether it will be the case or not, I don’t know yet. The track is improving a lot in those conditions, especially when the night starts to come. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see, but I believe it will be closer in the quali than the race.”

Charles Leclerc currently stands second in the drivers' standings with 290 points in his tally and is level with Sergio Perez, with both drivers fighting for second in the championship.