Ferrari will not take eye off 2022 in "tight fight" for third - Leclerc

Charles Leclerc is adamant Ferrari will not forgo development time on its all-important 2022 car if it gets drawn into a battle for third in the championship this season.

The Italian team suffered a disastrous campaign with its SF1000 last year as it ended the season sixth in the constructors’ championship, its worst position since 1980, and with its sights set on recovering its reputation this season.

It has come back quickly to place itself in the hunt for third behind Mercedes and Red Bull this season, but there is an understandable focus required on major changes for next year.

“I think a realistic goal for this year would be to be behind Red Bull and Mercedes,” said Leclerc. “I think it is going to be very difficult to fight with them, we are too far behind for now.

“But we are in the fight with four or five other teams for third place in the constructors, so it’s going to be a tight fight but if we do everything perfect I think it’s reachable.

“I don’t think we are getting carried away by the fight there will be during the season. I think everyone is well aware that there is much more to gain to focus on 2022 in the right way.”

F1 is about to come to an end of its most recent design cycle and major new changes for next season mean that no previous parts will be carried over from this year’s car to the next.

Although any work on the current car will be consigned to history at the end of the campaign, Leclerc is confident the team can stay in this year's fight whilst still putting itself in the best position for the longer term.

“These new cars will last for a lot longer, for many years after 2022, so we need to be ready for that,” added Leclerc. “I think we are getting ready, as we should, for this transition, so I’m not worried about that.

“This [current] car is a step forward, a significant step forward. We’ve seen in Bahrain, we’ve had a better progression compared to the other teams from last year to this year, so this is positive.

“The power feels better, the balance in the corners, the actual grip of the car feels better, it’s overall, it’s not on one thing, in particular, it’s just the whole package feels better and for sure this is positive for the future.

“On the other hand, we are still not fighting where we want to be fighting. So we are putting all of our efforts to try to come back to where we want to be, which is fighting for wins.”

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