Leclerc gave '110 per cent' to beat Perez in Abu Dhabi GP

Charles Leclerc admits that he gave "110 per cent" in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in order to stay ahead of Sergio Perez.

The two drivers battled for P2 in the race in order to secure second place in the World Championship, and Perez looked to be cutting into Leclerc's advantage in the latter stages.

Leclerc – who was on a one-stop strategy, while Perez went for a two-stopper – ultimately held on to the position, and spoke of the effort he had put in after the event.

"I was 110 per cent from the first lap to the last lap," the Ferrari driver said.

"Honestly, we had the perfect race for us, there was not much more today.

"I knew that the only possibility for us to beat Checo today was with a different strategy and playing with the tyre management, which we did really well today.

"We managed to make the one-stop work, so [I'm] really, really happy."

Viewed by others:

F120537.webp 1x, https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/racingnews-v2-prod/2022/Verstappen/_294x164_crop_center-center_70_none/SI202211202280_hires_jpeg_24bit_rgb.jpg?v=1668956208 2x">Verstappen Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi as Leclerc denies Red Bull 1-2
Vettel grid Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 Final F1 Championship standings after 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Leclerc hopeful for Ferrari's prospects

Despite mixed fortunes in 2022, Leclerc has backed Ferrari to continue to progress.

"I really hope next year we can do a step forward in order to fight for the championship," he added.

"But, considering where we were last year, it's a really big step forward. I think we improved toward the end of the season in terms of strategy.

"We still need to work in terms of race pace because coming into Sunday we seemd to struggle a bit more, but we'll push during the winter break in order to catch them back a little bit."

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