Charles Leclerc says Ferrari is unlikely to complete second in System 1’s the constructors’ championship regardless of his back-to-back podiums in Austin and Mexico Metropolis.
Ferrari has moved again into second place – one level forward of Mercedes and 10 forward of Pink Bull – following Leclerc’s runner-up end to Lando Norris in Mexico Metropolis. Every week earlier, Leclerc completed third behind Max Verstappen and Norris in the US Grand Prix, however he says he’s cautious of the outright tempo of a few of Ferrari’s rivals.
“It will be very, very robust,” Leclerc mentioned. “If I look again on the final two weekends, sure. If I look earlier than these two weekends, probably not.
“We simply have to focus race by race and do the proper execution similar to we have finished within the final two races. That pays off, clearly, as all the time – it is very tough to be acting at this degree on a regular basis however that’s the usual that we have to goal, and hopefully that can be sufficient to offer us second within the constructors.’”
Whereas Leclerc is pessimistic in relation to Ferrari’s hopes of beating Mercedes and Ferrari, he admits he was additionally stunned to have the ability to rating podiums in every of the final two rounds.
“I believe we didn’t count on to be replicating what we have finished in Austin. We knew that in Austin we had finished the proper execution, however we additionally knew that on paper we possibly did not have the tempo that McLaren or Pink Bull had. To be on the rostrum at that race was a shock, however we managed to do this once more and one step increased on the rostrum as nicely.
“As we all know already, by way of pure efficiency from the automobile, it has been fairly a very long time that we have been switching our minds to 2026, and in order that [will hurt] us slightly bit extra into this final a part of the season. However by doing excellent executed weekends, we managed to get two podiums in a row, which is a very nice feeling.”
Leclerc was additionally below important strain from Verstappen on the finish of Sunday’s race, and the Ferrari driver believes it’s possible he’d have been overtaken however for a late Digital Security Automotive interval.
“I used to be very joyful to see the [VSC] popping out within the final two laps. I believe with out it, there was extra likelihood of Max getting previous than me staying in entrance,” he admitted. “Particularly with these medium tires, the sensation was simply not there from the start to the top.
“I used to be positively tempted by the 2 stops, however I do not know. On the finish, I simply caught to what I used to be on, which was the medium tire, and tried to make it work – and we did. It was shut. We obtained slightly bit fortunate, however I am proud we made it stick.”
