Ferrari ‘gaining experience to be as ready as possible for next year’. Ferrari 'gaining experience to be as ready as possible for next year'.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc admitted that for the Maranello team the 2021 Formula 1 season is better than expected.

The Italian side had to deal with plenty of issues after an extremely difficult 2020 championship and bounced back this year despite the development restrictions that did not allow the Maranello team to make as many changes as they would have wanted and needed with the SF21 car. Still, Ferrari is able to fight again McLaren for a place behind Mercedes and Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings.

“[This year has gone] better than expected,” Charles Leclerc admitted. “I think there’s a lot of work behind [it] and obviously I can see it, whenever I go to Maranello [and] here at the track. So it’s not a complete surprise. Obviously there is a big gain compared to last year, which is great to see and it shows that we are doing something right in the way we work. But it’s not the end of the road, and we have as a target to be back on top. We are just not really focusing on expectations, we are just focusing on the work to do, back in Maranello and at the track, and trying to maximise everything to be back to where we want to be as soon as possible.” – he added.

The Monegasque driver was able to put in some strong performances in the first part of the championship, including two unexpected pole positions in Monaco and Azerbaijan and a second place finish at the Silverstone Circuit, where he came very close to even winning. However, Charles said that Ferrari are still facing a difficult phase.

“I’m enjoying this season. It’s not an easy phase for the team obviously. We are trying to reconstruct everything to be back on top as soon as possible. It was the first year with Carlos as a teammate and it’s going very, very well. We are pushing each other. He’s very, very competitive which is great for me. As a team I think we are working very, very well. We are trying to use this momentum to keep gaining experience and to be as ready as possible for next year, which is going to be a very important year. Not forgetting obviously this year and trying to maximise our results for this season.” – he concluded.