Charles Leclerc’s incredible start in last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix helped Ferrari to keep their championship hopes alive until the final lap of the season.
Taking advantage of a lively first lap ahead of him, Leclerc leapt 11 places from 19th on the grid. By vaulting to eighth place at the start, he put himself on course to finish third behind team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr.Lando Norris’s victory in the race meant Ferrari’s constructors’ championship hopes were dashed. But they pushed McLaren much harder than seemed likely when the field lined up with two MCL38s on the front row and Leclerc’s Ferrari at the opposite end of the grid.
“I knew I had to be very aggressive,” said Leclerc after the race. “I knew that in lap one, I had to take all the risks possible in order to gain as many places as possible.”
Leclerc out-dragged Alexander Albon away from the line and dodged Yuki Tsunoda who was slow to get away in his RB. He passed Jack Doohan into turn one, so he had already made up three places before passing Verstappen and Piastri following their turn one clash. He also gained a place from Zhou Guanyu who took to the run-off at turn one.
Having started on the medium tyre compound, Leclerc was able to out-drag Lewis Hamilton’s hard-tyred Mercedes through turn three. He then drove around the outside of Lance Stroll at turn five. He was up to 11th as he reached the back straight.
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Approaching turn six, Leclerc took the outside line and out-braked Liam Lawson. He was already working his way around the outside of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez when the pair made contact. Leclerc emerged from the corner in eighth place, and gave a “woohoo” in delight on his radio when race engineer Bryan Bozzi informed him of his progress.
Technically, one driver made up 11 places at the start last year, but it can’t be considered the same as Leclerc’s feat. Kevin Magnussen lined up in the pits at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix and was officially classified in ninth place at the end of lap one. However the Safety Car was deployed as the lap ended and Magnussen pitted, which meant he reached the timing line before many drivers who had been ahead of him on the track when he entered the pits.
There has only been one other race where any drivers have gained 10 places or more on the first lap since F1 widened cars to two metres in 2017. This occured at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, where multiple drivers crashed at the first corner.
On that occasion three drivers made up more than 10 places. Carlos Sainz Jnr (Leclerc’s team mate) and Tsunoda gained 11 each, while Williams driver Nicholas Latifi gained 12.
Latifi was aided by a double crash at the first corner on a damp track. Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes ran into the back of Lando Norris, causing the pair to hit the Red Bull drivers. Further back, Lance Stroll drove into Leclerc, who was knocked into Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren.
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While that drama unfolded, Latifi got past his team mate George Russell and rose from 19th to sixth as a result. With Antonio Giovinazzi having pitted before the start to change tyres, the Williams driver had gained 12 places.
That proved incredibly important, as he went on to finish seventh, delivering Williams’ first points for two years. It also proved the best result of his career, and after he was dropped by the team at the end of the following year he quit motor racing entirely.
For Leclerc, his first-lap efforts undid the effects of the 10-place grid penalty he received for a power unit parts change, and helped make up for a poor qualifying session in which he was eliminated in Q2. Even if he qualified where he could have done, he doubted it would have made any difference to Ferrari’s championship situation.
“I think P4 [in qualifying] was probably the best, which would have been P14 or P15. Then you never know what happens by starting P15 – [would] we have had [gained] 11 positions? I think it’s a long shot to say that.
“All in all, I think my first lap recovered basically everything that we’ve [lost] since the beginning of the weekend. So I don’t have any regrets.”
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JOA20
11th December 2024, 13:13
I thought Räikkönen had made up 10 places on the first lap of the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, but he passed Leclerc for 6th after the finish line of lap 1 (though Kimi dropped one place at the start from 16th to 17th).
stefano (@alfa145)
11th December 2024, 17:06
was thinking the same
Doh
12th December 2024, 13:41
Don’t get the point in being so pedantic about it. Had Kimi for example gained another 3 or 4 places I’d still consider that a part of his positions gained from that start. I guess it depends on if you’re being overly concerned with the 1 lap or if you just care to see overall positions gained untill things “settle down”
Alesici
11th December 2024, 13:29
My all-time favourite and best first lap was Alonso in the Renault around a wet Hungary in 2006. The full lap from on board was part of the season review DVD and is extended beyond that here. He kept diving into corners at insane speed and just as he looked certain to slide off onto the grass, the car suddenly gripped on the very outside, catapulting him past the other cars. It wasn’t a case of cars skidding off, nor them all queueing up on the inside to allow him to zoom past all of them under braking (both of which Leclerc benefitted from). It was just perpetual equisite judgement in the fiercest of tests. Infinitely better than Senna at Donington 93.
Amonymous
11th December 2024, 17:41
Insane, thanks for the link. Alonso may not be considered in the GOAT discussion, but he’s been driving beautifully for over 20 years, and his compilation of silly crashes and unforced mistakes is shorter than most. My favorite driver to watch ever since the golden days of Mansell-Piquet-Senna-Prost ended.
SPArtacus
14th December 2024, 3:37
He’s undoubtedly an F1 GOAT.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
11th December 2024, 20:12
What a lap! That’s some incredible wheel-to-wheel racing and supremely better than Verstappen in Brazil 2024.
That’s what Norris and I were saying about Verstappen’s car. Verstappen was always going to win with that car and his overtakes are simple compared to Alonso’s driving in 2006 which was insane.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
11th December 2024, 21:31
Truly masterful, but could he have done that with the third best car on the grid?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
12th December 2024, 13:25
It probably was the third best car that day, behind the Ferrari and the McLaren. Honda were quite close pace-wise as well.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
11th December 2024, 15:36
When was the last time a driver 10 or more places in the dry? I can’t remember. Schumacher 1998 in Suzuka maybe?
An Sionnach
11th December 2024, 15:57
Goatifi. What a driver. Never wanted to lose the element of surprise. Nobody suspected he was the greatest of all time. He was biding his time… waiting for the right moment to strike. That moment is yet to come, but when it does… all who see it will rejoice even as they go blind in astonishment!
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
11th December 2024, 17:09
Lofty sarcasm only an Irishman could produce:) @An Sionnach
An Sionnach
11th December 2024, 23:25
Whether Goatification jokes age like a fine wine or not, I’m mostly here to amuse myself and that’s not hard!
SteveP
11th December 2024, 22:46
I don’t know why, but I continually forget who it was that did the rapid overtake on Bottas*, and then braked for the corner immediately.
With little reaction time available and no downforce on the front wing, Bottas failed the brake test.
*I’d say British bias, but I keep mentally subbing Norris with Russell.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
12th December 2024, 2:35
What?? So now you’re not allowed to overtake in the wets anymore?
Are you serious?? Even Bottas apologised for it.
SteveP
12th December 2024, 15:54
That wasn’t my point. The RBR fan club would have everyone believe it was deliberate to take out/damage RBR cars.
The situation was a set of misjudgements, Norris overtook and then did what 95% (or more) of F1 drivers do – forgot the existence of the car immediately behind him.
Bottas keep his foot down after the overtake was done, was close in as a result, with reduced downforce and so less braking ability.
And it was wet.
Norris braked for the corner with better grip than Bottas.
Bottas then “failed the brake test”.
Racing incident.
SPArtacus
14th December 2024, 3:39
Agreed.