Leclerc on Ferrari’s title chances: “I believe in miracles”

Charles Leclerc is not giving up on winning the constructors’ championship with Ferrari, despite a poor qualifying session that leaves him at the back of the grid.

Ferrari is 21 points behind McLaren going into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi as the Scuderia aims for a first team title since 2008.

However, with McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row at the Yas Marina Circuit, Ferrari’s dwindling chances were only further hit when Leclerc saw a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, seeing him eliminated in Q2.

Having already taken a 10-place grid penalty for a new battery, Leclerc will fall to the back of the pack in 19th but, with team-mate Carlos Sainz at least up in third, the Monegasque is keeping the faith.

“I believe in miracles. Sometimes again, it makes our life very difficult, that’s for sure,” he said.

“With the 10-place grid penalty, it was always going to be difficult, but I see an opportunity to do something very special, and I’ll do my best to do it. And I’ll believe in it until the very last lap – everything can happen.”

Amongst a poor weekend, Leclerc did go fastest in first practice, a session in which he drove alongside younger brother Arthur.

“The race pace was okay, but McLaren seemed to be a lot stronger,” he added.

“But again, we’ve changed quite a bit the car since FP3, so I think we went in the right direction. And if anything, our tyre degradation is better than others. So I would expect to be in a good position tomorrow.”

Sainz, who will race for the final time for Ferrari before he is replaced by Lewis Hamilton next season, will be hoping to push the McLaren duo from the very start on Sunday afternoon.

“I think we’ve made some good progress through the weekend. I think McLaren have showed all weekend that they’re a bit of a step ahead compared to everyone, really,” he said.

“We were just there behind, two or three tenths off. When it came to Q1 and Q2 it looked like we were getting a bit closer. I put together some really good laps in Q1 and Q2 but then in Q3, when they put everything together, they still had this little advantage over us.

“Anyway, still a race to do tomorrow, and we will give it everything to see if we can win that race and give ourselves the best chance.”

Pole man Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, Carlos…