Ferrari’s strong form ‘doesn’t mean we will win all races from now on’ insists Leclerc as constructors’ battle heats up

Ferrari may have claimed two consecutive Grand Prix victories in this triple header, but Charles Leclerc appeared eager to manage expectations as he emphasised that McLaren and Red Bull are still tough-to-beat competitors.

Heading into the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, there are just 54 points separating the top three teams in the constructors’ standings, but Ferrari have had a fantastic run of form, claiming a double podium in both Austin and Mexico, with their drivers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz taking a win each.

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While most of the focus since the summer break has been on the fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the Italian team have snuck up to P2 and are now close to threatening McLaren’s lead.

Speaking at Interlagos about Ferrari's improvement in form and their car upgrade programme, Leclerc said: “The only thing I can say is we had a new front wing in Singapore and that’s it. However, it’s going in the right direction. I think in Monza we had a new first upgrade and in Singapore a second one.

“But everything went in the right direction, we just didn’t have the tracks that were helping to highlight those upgrades, and once we arrived in Austin we knew that would be a very important race for us to show how much of a step forward we did, and we did. That’s a good thing.

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“That doesn’t mean we will win all races from now on because I still feel like McLaren, for example, last weekend, I felt like they were the strongest team. Lando’s second stint was very strong and I think we were a bit lucky that Max did what he did!” joked Leclerc, referring to Norris and Verstappen's fractious battle in Mexico City.

“So that helped us as a team. Having said that, Carlos [Sainz] definitely deserved [the win in Mexico] because he did a better job than anybody. It’s a good thing, we are in a good time with the team and hopefully we can win the constructors’.”

Their last two results have seen Ferrari dominate compared to their nearest rivals, with the Monegasque and his team mate leading each race in a commanding fashion as they pursued their respective victories.

With Red Bull struggling for pace and McLaren coming off the back of a mixed bag in Mexico, the Italian team could be the favourites once again this weekend, even if Leclerc doesn’t have faith that they have the quickest car.

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“You never say never in Formula 1, but we feel like we are in a good moment for the team,” he summarised. “We don’t have that much of a huge points difference between Red Bull and [us], so everything is open still.

“We can finish third in the constructors’ championship, we can win it, we can finish second, everything is open. So we’ve got to stay focused on ourselves, just like we’ve done in the last two races because that worked out pretty well for us, so that is our target.

“We shouldn’t get influenced by the fact that things have gone well in the last two races, we just need to reset every weekend and go again. Hopefully that will bring us to similar race weekends as the last two.”