Charles Leclerc looking to extend REMARKABLE F1 record in Qatar

Hamilton, Leclerc, Mercedes, Ferrari, Austria, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

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Leclerc looking to extend REMARKABLE F1 record in Qatar

The Monagasque driver has a fantastic record in 2023

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 5 October 2023 16:57

As Formula 1 heads into its fourth sprint race weekend of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is looking to maintain his record of scoring a podium finish at every sprint event so far in 2023.

The Monagasque driver has only been on the podium three times in what has been an inconsistent season, but all three podiums were during weekends that included a shorter Saturday race.

In Belgium and Austria, Leclerc managed to get himself up there during Sunday's race and in Azerbaijan he secured a second-place finish on the Saturday, and a third place in the main race on Sunday.

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Sprint stats 📚@Charles_Leclerc has been on the podium every Sprint race weekend so far this year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9Usj9XHVcl
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 3, 2023

He will be desperately hoping that this rich vain of form continues, not least because there are another three sprint weekends planned in the final six races of the season.

Leclerc currently sits 15 points behind his team-mate Carlos Sainz in the drivers' championship, and the team are chasing down Mercedes in the constructors' championship.

In this sense, it is crucial that he can get back to being in on the podium regularly, after three consecutive fourth-place finishes.

The history of F1's sprint race

The sprint race was added to the F1 calendar in 2021, and this year sees the number of sprints doubled from 2022

Leclerc isn't the only driver who seems to like sprint weekends.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen has the most wins since the format was introduced in 2021 with five, but there are other drivers who seem to like the shorter races.

Sainz himself has achieved four podiums, as well as seven top five finishes from the nine sprints that have taken place in F1.

Pierre Gasly managed to claim his first podium with his new Alpine team during the Belgium GP sprint race, despite the car only being fast enough to finish 11th in the main race.