Ferrari rejects Ralf Schumacher "appalling mediocrity" criticism

Ferrari

Ferrari rejects Schumacher "appalling mediocrity" criticism

Schumacher suggested praise for third best team shows how far Ferrari had fallen

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Wednesday 19 May 2021 18:18

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have leapt to the defence of Ferrari after Ralf Schumacher labelled the team as suffering from "appalling mediocrity".

Ferrari is in the process of rebuilding after a torrid 2020 campaign that saw the manufacturer suffer its worst season since 1980, finishing sixth in the constructors' championship.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Leclerc drove Ferrari to a best-of-the-rest fourth-place finish behind the two Mercedes drivers and Max Verstappen with Schumacher suggesting the praise the team received only served to highlight its fall from grace.

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Responding to the comments of the former driver turned Sky Germany pundit, Leclerc said: "I do not agree with the words he has used.

"We are working very very hard. Last year has been a very difficult season for us and from then on we have been working very, very well.

"I can see it, I can feel the progress in the car and I am happy with the progress we are making. I am not happy yet with where we are fighting for and I am sure that nobody in the team is happy where we are fighting for.

"We don't want to be fighting for fourth, fifth or sixth, we want to be fighting for the first positions but after the step back we did from 2019 to 2020, we are doing a good job at recovering that.

"F1 is a very difficult sport, everyone is pushing their limits every year so we are trying to catch up.

"It is not easy but as I said, I am happy with the way we are working at the moment and I believe in the project and I am sure we will soon be back fighting for the lead positions we want which is to fight for wins."

Sainz, who raced at rivals McLaren last season, also disagreed with Schumacher's comments and praised the core of staff at Maranello for the hard work being put into turning around the Scuderia's fortunes.

He added: "As a team, we can not pretend to go from one year to another, going from 1.5secs behind to winning the world championship.

"We are the ones who are not happy, we are the ones who are self-critical and want more.

"We know it is going to take time and we are going to work as hard as possible to bring Ferrari back to where it belongs at least at the top.

"I wouldn't go as far as calling this team mediocre because I think this team is full of super-talented people, people that have demonstrated they can create race-winning cars in 2019, 2018 and 2017 and a team that has shown really good capacity of recovery in a matter of one year.

"We have recovered nearly more than half of the gap to Mercedes and the top teams so I see positive trends and we are on the right path."