‘Disappointing season’… 26-year-old F1 driver knew he was in trouble this year after the very first race

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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has admitted it’s been a disappointing season and he knew he’d struggle to match his ambitions after the first race of the year.

Leclerc was sitting alongside world champion Max Verstappen as part of the final driver’s press conference of the year.

Although the Dutchman has nothing to fight for in Abu Dhabi, there’s a very good chance he could still take his 19^th win of the season on Sunday.

In contrast, Charles Leclerc is fighting to help Ferrari overtake Mercedes to finish as runners-up in the Constructors’ Championship.

It’s been a topsy-turvy year for the four teams chasing down Red Bull, with their pace varying greatly from track to track.

Red Bull’s speed and consistency has meant that Verstappen winning the title was a foregone conclusion from very early on in the year.

Leclerc has admitted it’s been a disappointing season but that Ferrari have still made some progress.

The amount of work the Italian outfit have to do over the winter to try and catch Red Bull might worry their engineers.

However, big gaps can be closed, as McLaren have proved throughout 2023 as they went from backmarkers to earning consistent top-three finishes.

Leclerc laments disappointing season in 2023

Asked what his highlight of the campaign has been, Leclerc said: “Highlights? Maybe the last race? But yeah to be honest it’s been a disappointing season.

“After last year we expected to come this season and try and fight for the championship which after the first race we straight away understood how difficult it will be compared to the Red Bull that made a huge step forward, especially in race pace.

“We didn’t do the same step, so from that moment onwards it was a bit disappointing.

“On the other hand, if you just look at this season and forget about last season I think we’ve progressed quite a lot throughout the season which is positive and makes me confident for the future.

“But there’s a big gap to fill to get back the Red Bulls, so we’ll work hard during the winter break and hopefully we’ll come back stronger with a car that’s capable of winning.”

Leclerc might be slightly harsh by saying it’s a disappointing season but his record of converting pole positions into wins will frustrate him.

He started from the front five times this season, but on each occasion, a Red Bull has taken the chequered flag first.

Marc Gene shared that he was gutted after last week’s Las Vegas GP despite his brilliant performance.

He easily outpaced teammate Carlos Sainz and with his contract ending at the end of next year, replicating that form will make it very easy for him to earn an extension.