Leclerc sees Ferrari finishing third "if all goes well"

For Ferrari, 2020 was a difficult year, but this year they seem to have things more in order. Fighting with Mercedes and Red Bull Racing is not on the cards yet, but they do have a clear goal, finishing third. That is what Charles Leclerc says who thinks the chances are quite realistic. A third place would make them the best of the rest and if that happens it would prove that the team has found the right way up.

A realistic goal

At the press conference, the Monegasque will elaborate a bit more on that. Quoted by F1i.com Leclerc says: "I think a realistic goal for this year is to be just behind Red Bull and Mercedes. Realistically, I think it’s going to be very difficult to be able to fight with them." But in perspective with McLaren, Alpine and AlphaTauri, Ferrari can keep up.

Fighting with the top is not in it for the following simple reason: "We are too far behind for now but we are in the fight with four, five other teams for the third place in the constructors’ so it’s going to be a tight fight but if we do everything perfect it’s reachable."

Focus on 2021

When it quickly became apparent at the start of 2020 that Ferrari would not be competitive enough, the team turned its focus to 2021. "The start of 2020 was difficult to just realise the reality of things and to understand we were really a step down compared to 2019. We went through this process in a good way I think and then we started to work to reconstruct a little bit the whole project and I think the mentality is right.

"I think everyone is well aware there’s much more to gain to prepare for 2022 in the right way because these new cars will last for a lot longer, for many years, after 2022 so we need to be ready for that," Leclerc said in conclusion to emphasise that Ferrari is working on this season as well as next.