Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc Deputy World Champion

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished second behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at the Abu Dhabi GP. This performance also allowed him to finish second in the World Championship standings behind Dutchman, winner of 15 races this season.

The Monaco driver won a long-running battle with Sergio Perez (Red Bull) at the end of the season’s suspenseful final Grand Prix to claim runner-up spot in the World Championship.

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Charles Leclerc finished the race 10 seconds ahead of his rivals, helped by the Mexican driver’s strategic change of one pit stop instead of two.

Already looking forward to next season

“I gave 110% from the first lap to the last lap. We had a problem with the tires this season, but we changed our strategy and it worked,” Monaco said after the race. “I’m really happy. It’s good to finish the race before the holidays. I think next season we can aim even higher. Red Bull were at a higher level than us again today. The race we’re missing. We need to work hard to find performance, but today everything went well and I’m happy to confirm that we can put in a great performance as a team.”

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In the Drivers’ Championship, Max Verstappen (454 points) finished ahead of Charles Leclerc (308 points) and Sergio Perez (305 points). In the constructors’ ranking, Red Bull (759 points) wins the title over Ferrari (554 points) and Mercedes (515 points).