Leclerc says P4 was the best he could do after Sepang recovery
Charles Leclerc recovered from last to fourth at Sepang after contact with Nico Hülkenberg left him with a puncture and front-wing damage. Leclerc said P4 was the best he could do.
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Charles Leclerc recovered from last to fourth at Sepang in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, passing Isack Hadjar late in the race. Contact with Nico Hülkenberg had left him with a puncture and front-wing damage.
Ferrari put both drivers on soft tyres as the race got underway in wet-dry conditions. The track was still too wet, and both fell back as drivers on intermediates passed. A slow stop to change Leclerc’s front wing and switch to intermediates left him in last place.
After the race, Leclerc said he collided with Hülkenberg on lap one after starting on slicks and described the choice of starting tyres on a mixed grid as a close call. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said the team could judge conditions only from what it saw on the grid and in the pit lane, lacked the full picture and got the opening call wrong. Vasseur said the team made the right decisions afterwards and that its strategy worked as intended.
Leclerc said everything that could go wrong in the first half did, while in the second part everything that could go right went right for the team. He called P4 the best he could do. He also said he had a poor feeling in the car, encountered inconsistencies and struggled to use its full potential; Ferrari, he said, had plenty to learn and do better the next time it faced similar conditions.
Sources 02
- PRIMARY SOURCELeclerc relieved with P4 after everything went ‘wrong’ in SepangFormula 1
- PRIMARY SOURCEWhat the teams said – Race day in MalaysiaFormula 1
Claims and supporting evidence 10
The race account gives Leclerc’s recovery and the late pass.
The race account describes the contact and resulting damage without assigning fault.
This reports Ferrari’s opening tyre choice and the immediate change in position.
The race account gives the reason for the stop and its immediate result.
This reports Leclerc’s account of the contact and his assessment of the tyre choice.
This is Vasseur’s account of Ferrari’s opening decision and subsequent strategy.
This preserves the collective scope of Leclerc’s post-race description.
This is Leclerc’s assessment of the result he could achieve.
This reports Leclerc’s description of his experience in the car.
This reports Leclerc’s view of the team’s next steps.
Corrections and updates to this story
Leclerc says P4 was the best he could do after Sepang recovery
Update: Added Leclerc’s account of his lap-one contact with Hülkenberg and his description of the mixed-grid starting-tyre choice as a close call, plus Vasseur’s view that Ferrari got the opening call wrong but made the right decisions afterwards and that the strategy worked as intended.
Leclerc says P4 was the best he could do after Sepang recovery
Manual editorial correction: clarified wording and attribution and removed repeated or source-process prose where present. The underlying reporting and sources are unchanged. / Handmatige redactionele correctie: formuleringen en bronvermelding verduidelijkt; herhaling en controletaal verwijderd waar aanwezig. De verslaggeving en bronnen zijn behouden.
This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.