26/04/2025 15:40
Charles Leclerc has denied Ferrari will abandon hope of a
championship charge early in the season in order to focus on next
year's car. The F1 challengers will undergo significant changes
next year under a fresh set of technical rules aimed at both the
chassis and power units. Getting a head start on constructing the
new cars could offer an advantage at the start of the sport's new
era, and it's a tactic some teams are likely to take later this
year. Following a pre-season boost with the arrival of Lewis
Hamilton, Ferrari has not presented itself as a championship
contender in the opening rounds of the campaign with McLaren
setting the pace out front. When asked by RacingNews365 if the year
would be another missed opportunity if rapid improvements aren't
found, Leclerc replied: "For it to be a missed opportunity, there
needs to be an opportunity at one point. "For now, we haven't been
at the level where we want to be from the beginning of the season.
"It's still a long season, and we shouldn't give up. We are going
to push until the very end. "But I think one can go with the other
as well. We very often say, 'let's switch to next year's car
straight away'. "These kind of things, more and more with the new
structures in F1, they can go parallel to one another. "I don't
think you can be extreme in one way or the other." Ferrari has not
won an F1 title since the 2008 campaign when it topped the
constructors' championship ahead of McLaren. Leclerc asserted the
team will only switch complete focus to next year's car when any
mathematical title hope for this season is eliminated. "That
doesn't mean that we are only focusing on this season, forgetting
about next season or vice versa," he said. "I think we are trying
to do the best in both worlds and we'll see where that leads us.
"As soon as the chances of a championship this year are not
possible anymore, then it probably makes sense to fully focus on
2026."
