Charles Leclerc has revealed his desire to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours in the future after Ferrari’s historic win.
The number 51 Ferrari, driven by former Formula 1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, beat the chasing Toyota to victory after a chaotic day of racing on the Prancing Horse’s return to the legendary French countryside.
Leclerc was in attendance for the centenary edition of the race and made no secret of his desire to take on the king of endurance races one day.
“I think it’s an incredible race,” Leclerc told the media. “I would love to participate one day, I don’t know when, but I’d love to.
“It was the first time for me attending the race and obviously it could not have ended better with Ferrari winning but just the whole event is crazy.
“The last time I went to a race as a spectator was a very, very long time ago so it was good. I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning and slept four hours so it was OK.”
Leclerc: Strategy and tyre management was great
Leclerc, who is seventh in the F1 drivers’ championship had another difficult Saturday as he was eliminated in Q2 and started down in 10th.
But he made good use of Ferrari‘s one-stop strategy and finished fourth, only 4.5 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.
He wants to wait until the Austrian Grand Prix to see if Ferrari have resolved their tyre issues that have hampered them since the middle of 2022.
“We decided to stay on track during the first safety car, which I think was a good strategy,” said Leclerc. “I think we did a great race management all in all – tyre management, strategy.
“The feeling with the car was also better than the first part of the season, at least for me, so it’s positive.
“But then fourth is not where we want to be. We want to be fighting for first positions again.”
Where is the next F1 2023 race?
The next F1 race is the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix which will be second sprint weekend of the year, held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on June 30 to July 2.
