Charles Leclerc recovered from last place to finish fourth at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang after a race marred by a strategy error, contact with Nico Hulkenberg, a puncture and front wing damage — with the Ferrari driver crediting the result as the best he could have achieved given the circumstances.
Ferrari made an early strategic miscalculation by sending both Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton out on soft compound tyres in wet-dry conditions. The track remained too wet for slicks, and as both drivers fell back through the field, overtaken by rivals on intermediates, Leclerc was called into the pits. The situation was compounded by contact with Hulkenberg that had already left him with a puncture and front wing damage, requiring a slow stop to fit intermediates and replace the wing. Leclerc emerged from the pit lane in last position.
“Everything that could have gone wrong in the first half of the race did go wrong, everything that could have gone right though in the second part of the race went right for us,” Leclerc said.
Hamilton faced a similarly difficult opening, dropping to 17th after starting on the softs, but the seven-time world champion managed to recover to an unlikely podium finish. The twin recovery drives extended Ferrari’s advantage over McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship and marginally closed the gap to Mercedes.
“At the end of the day, I think P4 on my side was the best I could do,” Leclerc said. “I didn’t have a good feeling with the car, had quite a lot of inconsistencies and just struggled to use the maximum potential of the car.”
The weekend was also marked by off-track speculation surrounding the future of Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur. Leclerc used his post-race platform to publicly back Vasseur and dismiss what he called “silly rumours.”
“Fred is doing absolutely everything in order to bring back the team to the top, and we are all doing that, and to see all of these headlines in the last few days haven’t been nice at all,” Leclerc said. “We are very united, that is the most important.”
Despite the result, Leclerc acknowledged Ferrari must improve their decision-making in mixed conditions. “As a team there are plenty of things we need to learn from and do better next time we find ourselves in these conditions,” he said.