Leclerc: Perez's five second penalty cost us a lot

Ferrari were four points behind Mercedes in the Constructors' Standings, but with Carlos Sainz starting the race way down the grid, it was going to be a tough ask with Leclerc only fighting for points, while both Russell and Lewis Hamilton were in the points.

The only thing Leclerc could've done more on Sunday, was to beat Max Verstappen, a long shot given the latter's form, but the Ferrari driver tried to help Perez - with a five-second penalty - to beat Russell to boost Ferrari's chances of taking second from Mercedes. That didn't work though.

Speaking in Ferrari's post-race media brief, Leclerc said: "I had a very good car and the strategy was the right one. I could have pushed hard for many laps on the Medium tyres and my second place was never in danger.

"Unfortunately, in the end, Checo’s (Perez) five second penalty cost us a lot. Towards the end I tried to help him to build a gap over George (Russell) so that he could wipe out the penalty and finish ahead of the Mercedes, which would have put us ahead of them in the classification.

"However, looking back at the season, we can say it has been positive," he added. "We started the year with a car that we could not push to the limit. We knew what the problem was, but it took a while to change things.

"From Japan onwards my Ferrari became a very different car, capable of very good results. Unfortunately, over the course of the year there were several occasions when we were in a strong position but left points on the table: I’m thinking of my retirement in Bahrain when I was third, or in Brazil, where I qualified on the front row but I never actually started the race.

"I hope that, over the winter, we will be able to put everything we have learned to good use in order to be competitive right from the start of next season. We want to give something back to our fans for all their continued support," the Monegasque concluded.

Sainz's weekend in Abu Dhabi went off the rails when he crashed in practice and followed that by an underwhelming qualifying 16th.

He followed that by a tough race on Sunday, as Ferrari put him on a strategy that would've only worked had there been a Red flag of a Safety Car, both of which did not happen.

As a result he was pitted on the final lap, and was classified as 18th, he said after the race: "Not the way we wanted to finish the season, with a very tough double-header on my side in Las Vegas and here in Abu Dhabi.

"The race today was never going to be easy," he admitted. "The first stint on the Hard was risky and it didn’t go to plan. From there on our race was a bit compromised and we waited for a Safety Car that never came. It hurts badly to miss P2 in the Constructors but there have been plenty of positives throughout the year and we will of course work on the things we could’ve done better.

"I want to thank the entire team, here and back home in Maranello, for their incredible effort all season long and also send a massive thank you to every single fan for their relentless support.

"We will regroup during the winter and come back stronger next year. Grazie a tutti e Forza Ferrari sempre," Sainz who was the only non Red Bull driver to win a race in 2023, concluded.

Ferrari ended up missing out on second in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Championship to Mercedes by three points.