Leclerc: P3 is the best we could do today

At least Leclerc will start one place behind Sergio Perez, the man he is fighting for second place in the 2022 Formula 1 Drivers Championship. His teammate Carlos Sainz will line up next to him fourth on the grid on Sunday.

"P3 is the best we could do today," he said in Ferrari's post qualifying brief. "It was quite a tricky qualifying, especially in terms of tyre management, as is usually the case in Abu Dhabi, with the rear tyres overheating in the final sector.

"With Carlos starting right behind me, we will work together to put pressure on our competitors ahead and aim to finish the season on a high," he maintained.

After qualifying and speaking to the media, Leclerc revealed some details of his qualifying, he said: "I’m happy with the lap, I don’t think there was much more in it.

"I didn’t have anybody in front [for a tow], which maybe cost me a bit in Q3. But to be honest, it was my choice, because I just wanted a clean out-lap," he added.

"But it’s like this. P3 is a really good position to start in tomorrow and hopefully we’ll have a chance to pass Checo [Perez] very early on.

"I think we did a step forward [in final practice] this morning," Leclerc went on. "But we didn’t have any reference this morning, so we don’t know how much better it is compared to Friday. I’m not sure, let’s see.

"I’m confident we did a step forward. How much? We’ll have to wait and see. It’s going to be a very close battle with Checo I’m sure, and if there’s an opportunity, I’ll go for it," the Monegasque vowed.

Sainz added in Ferrari's report: "It was a solid qualifying for the team today as we made a step forward on pace and car setup. I’m not entirely happy with my last attempt in Q3 as the traffic on the out-lap compromised getting everything up to temperature and I didn’t put a great lap together.

"However, I’m happy with the feeling in the car and I think we’re in a good position for tomorrow. There are still many points to fight for and we’ll push until the end," he insisted.

Facing the media after qualifying the Spaniard lamented a slow out lap that affected how prepared his tyres for his hot run, which meant he left some performance on the table.

He explained: "It didn’t quite come together after a very strong Q1, Q2 and Q3, really. I was feeling really at home, but unfortunately [before] the last attempt I had a very slow out-lap behind the Alpine and the McLaren that were having slower out-laps than us – I couldn’t quite get everything up to temperature.

"I still managed a couple of clean laps, I just couldn’t extract the last couple of tenths of performance that the car had today. I’m happy with the feeling in the car and we are in a good position for tomorrow," he added.

As for the race, Sainz said: "I think the Red Bulls are very difficult to beat this weekend. They have two or three-tenths in quali and normally this gap extends in the race, so I would expect them during the race to have even more margin,” he said.

"But the fight is with Merc, the fight is to try and defend that P2 in the championship," he pointed out. "I think it’s going to be tough.

"I think in the race they are going to be quicker than us, but we are going to try everything we can to keep them behind, to beat them. I think we are in a good position to do so," the 28-year-old from Madrid concluded.