Charles Leclerc has declared Ferrari will persevere with their efforts to catch Mercedes despite the considerable gap.
The Monegasque was the only real challenge to the Silver Arrows in Paul Ricard, keeping Valtteri Bottas within sight and almost capitalising on late tyre and engine issues to snatch second place.
Forlornly, however, the difference to Lewis Hamilton was 18 seconds and Leclerc accepts that is a standard the Italian team can’t reach.
“I think at the moment it’s quite difficult, they seem very quick,” he said quite understatedly on Thursday.
“They were extremely quick at Paul Ricard, especially in the race, so I think we are focusing on ourselves and trying to do the best job possible but to be honest, it’s quite difficult to be at their level.”
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This weekend can actually see Mercedes match a record set by McLaren in 1988 for most consecutive wins with 11 at the Austrian Grand Prix, a streak stretching back to Brazil last year.
And while any thought of the championship appears remote, that isn’t stopping Leclerc and Ferrari from pushing on.
“We will believe it until the end but of course we are all aware that the gap is quite big and it’s going to be very difficult to catch up,” he conceded.
“But we won’t give up until its mathematically impossible so we will give it everything.”
And as for his own situation within the Italian team, the 21-year-old is getting more comfortable after scoring back to back podiums for the first time in F1.
“On my personal side, it was good to have a good weekend. We have been struggling a bit more so it was nice but we just need to keep working and doing that,” he concluded.
