Both Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, had a tough Qatar Grand Prix weekend. Leclerc was only able to score four points for the iconic Italian manufacturer, and Hamilton finished outside of the points in both the sprint race and Grand Prix.

The Qatar GP also saw drivers struggling to overtake, due to the 'DRS train' affect, where multiple cars are within one second of each other, therefore limiting the effect that DRS has in the ability to assist with overtaking another car.

However, despite Leclerc calling his race: "Boring", the Monegasque was able to watch the entertaining battle at the front of the field, between Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Leclerc stated: "I could follow on the screen a little bit of that and was trying to do the math in my head. At least, that was the most exciting part of my race. Apart from that, it was very boring."

Max Verstappen overtook both McLaren's and powered to victory, after McLaren made a strategic blunder for both Piastri and Norris. The pair of them were forced to try and fight back through the field, with Piastri recovering to second place, but Norris only managing to recover to fourth after a penultimate lap mistake by Kimi Antonelli.

Speaking on the three championship contenders going into the Abu Dhabi weekend, Leclerc stated: "It's a tough one. I think anything can happen when it's that little points in between {the three of them}. It's probably going to be between Lando and Max. But anything can happen, especially with the tension that there will be. Incidents can play a huge part into it and they're all fighting for positions."

When asked on what the championship battle means for Formula One, Leclerc said: "It's great. I wish it was a full battle and that I will be involved. I want to win and I want to be fighting at the top and it's nice to see those battles, but it would be lovely if I could be part of it."

The championship will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, with Lando Norris leading Max Verstappen by 12-points in the world championship, and Oscar Piastri by 16-points.

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