Charles Leclerc reacts to Lewis Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi recovery: “He will never lose it”

Charles Leclerc has reacted to Lewis Hamilton’s impressive recovery at the F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, declaring that his teammate for next year has “never lost it.”

Hamilton went from 16th on the grid to finish fourth, overtaking Mercedes teammate George Russell on the final lap.

It was a fine drive in his final outing for Mercedes, putting together a mighty final stint of the race on medium tyres.

Hamilton will make the switch to Ferrari alongside Leclerc for 2025.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race in Abu Dhabi, Leclerc was asked about Hamilton’s mighty drive to fourth.

Leclerc said: “But I never have had the doubt on that. Lewis is Lewis and will always remain Lewis.

“He’s extremely talented. Talent is probably not the word. He’s a legend of our sport. He’s never lost it and he will never lose it.”

Ferrari lose out to McLaren in Abu Dhabi

It was a disappointing day for Ferrari at the Yas Marina Circuit as McLaren were crowned F1 constructors’ champions.

Ferrari finished second and third, but they were unable to beat Lando Norris to victory.

In the end, Ferrari finished 14 points behind McLaren as their wait for a constructors’ title goes on.

Reflecting on their defeat, Leclerc added: “We did the maximum. I don’t think there was anything better we could have done.

“It hurts because obviously such a race you know what you’ve put absolutely everything together and you just come short of your objective which is to win the constructors’ but at the same time, we’ve done an incredible job.

“I think all season, the execution has been extremely good. It just hurts because obviously it was very important for me, for Carlos, for the whole team to bring Ferrari back to the top.

“We didn’t quite do that. McLaren have been better over the course of the season. They deserve it. It was important for us to finish the four years together with Carlos with a title. We didn’t quite manage that but we had a great time together. The disappointment is big today.”