Charles Leclerc Feels Ferrari Still Years Away From Winning F1 World Title

Ferrari's star driver Charles Leclerc has revealed that he still feels that his team is a long way away from starting to win world titles again. The Monegasque has revealed that while the improvement with 2021 he feels that the competition has also improved with Red Bull challenging Mercedes for the world title and McLaren leading it at P3 in the constructors with it being the only team this year to have recorded a 1-2.

"It feels different. Already from the first race, I felt more confident with this car. The performance overall has just been better and we have also been more consistent compared to last year so it is good to see that. It shows we are working in the right direction. The road is still very long until we reach our objectives, which is to fight again for the title "But it has been a good step forward from last year and now we need to continue working in this direction," the 23-year old said.

While for most of the season Ferrari has been in lockstep with McLaren, since the mid-season break, McLaren has pulled ahead thanks to its 1-2 at Ferrari's home race at Monza. It trails McLaren by 17.5 points.

Leclerc has been slightly inconsistent this year because of retirements
Photo Credit: AFP

"They are having a very good season unfortunately but it is good that we have such a fight. We have been very, very close during the whole season. In Monza, they were very strong and we will try to catch up now. Obviously, they are very quick, very consistent also, so now it is our job to try and maximize every weekend and hopefully, we can get back in front of them at the end of the championship," Leclerc said.

Ferrari's woes are mostly related to the technical directives that were issued at the end of the 2019 season which combined with COVID19 crippled its 2020 car which resulted in its worse performance in 40 years. While 2021 is an improvement due to COVID-related restrictions and engine development restrictions Ferrari hasn't fully caught up with Mercedes and Honda on the power unit side.

Particularly, Honda has made a major step with its power unit while McLaren has switched to Mercedes power from Renault in 2020 which has been one of the prime reasons for the competition being strong.