Charles Leclerc is demanding a perfect weekend from Ferrari in order to beat McLaren to the Constructors’ Championship at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari could take its first Constructors’ title since 2008, but it has to overhaul a 21-point deficit to McLaren under the lights in Yas Marina to end the 16-year drought.
The scale of the task is not lost on the Scuderia, with Carlos Sainz stating on Thursday that only a perfectly executed weekend by the team can take Ferrari ahead of McLaren.
However, with Leclerc just eight points behind Lando Norris, he has an opportunity to match his best championship position since his failed title bid in 2022.
But in a blow to his weekend, a battery problem kept Leclerc in the garage for much of the first practice session on Friday, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week on Thursday, Leclerc agreed with his team-mate on the need for perfection, but admitted securing a 1-2 and the title is “a stretch”.
“Yeah, I do agree. I think on our side, we need to do everything perfect, that’s for sure and by doing everything perfect, I really mean it,” he said.
“I think we need to do first and second this weekend.
“We need things to not go exactly the way they want in McLaren because on paper, they will be strong on this track as well.
“It’s also true that we’ve never won here, I think, in Abu Dhabi since a very, very long time.
“So, there’s quite a lot of work. It’s not impossible.
“I think we’ve had the right approach in the last few races and we’ve taken some points even on the weekend where we did not expect to do so.
“On this weekend, we are a bit more neutral and we think that it’s going to be a positive weekend for us.
So, I really hope that is the case and that we can take that opportunity in order to win the championship. But it’s a stretch, for sure.”
Perfect way to end the season?
Despite the title being attainable, Leclerc said winning the title would not equate to a perfect 2024, despite highlighting what he called a “high level” of execution in races.
“A perfect season? No,” he retorted.
“Because I would only rate a perfect season if we win and even when we win the Drivers’ and the Constructors’, probably there’s always something we can do better.
“So, not a perfect season. However, a very good season in terms of execution-wise. I think we executed always at a very, very high level.
“This is why today we are still in the fight for the Constructors’ because if you look at the performance in itself, at the beginning of the season, I don’t think we would have believed anybody that would have said that we would be in the fight for the Constructors’ at the last race.
“The performance was not good enough. However, we worked extremely well.
“We had a really massive improvement throughout the year and in the difficult weekends, we didn’t demotivate ourselves. We maximized all the points possible.”
READ MORE: Ferrari F1 title hopes dashed by Charles Leclerc 10-place grid drop in Abu Dhabi
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