Leclerc's jet turned back mid-flight, forcing four-hour road trip to Singapore GP

Charles Leclerc arrived at the Singapore Grand Prix later than planned after his private jet was forced to turn back to Malaysia, leaving him to complete the roughly 185-mile journey by road — a drive of around four hours.

The Monegasque missed his assigned landing window at Seletar Airport by approximately five minutes, according to Italian outlet Il Mattino. Other reports suggested the aircraft had not been granted permission to land. Neither Leclerc nor Ferrari offered an official explanation.

“I missed the slot by like five minutes to be landing on time in Singapore, so I had to land somewhere in Malaysia then look for a car to come here,” Leclerc told beIN. “But at the end I eventually got here so I’m happy to be here… just a little bit later than what was planned.”

Max Verstappen, travelling in his own private jet, touched down without incident. “Lucky him, lucky him,” Leclerc laughed.

Leclerc was not the only driver to make an unconventional journey to the city-state. Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas cycled from Sepang to Singapore, announcing on social media: “I’m riding to Singapore. On the gravel roads less traveled with my new Canyon Grail CFR. See you there.”

The travel disruption did little to derail Leclerc’s weekend. He finished third in Saturday’s rain-hit sprint and started the grand prix from second on the grid, ultimately crossing the line 7.335 seconds behind Verstappen, who won from pole for his first Singapore Grand Prix victory and second consecutive win following his triumph at Sepang. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli completed the podium.

“We were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading a bit more in the first stint,” Leclerc said. “Then we did a slightly different strategy to Max with the Virtual Safety Car. I believed in it until the very end, but I pushed a lot at the beginning of that last stint and degraded a bit more than the others. I gave it all and I don’t regret anything.”

Leclerc acknowledged that Ferrari’s new parts had made a difference but stressed the team still had ground to make up. “It’s not enough. We’ll push to the end and we’ve still got to bring some new things to the car to be at the level.”

The result added 18 points to Leclerc’s tally.