Sebastian Vettel hopes to tap into the UK’s love for the underdog as Ferrari set low expectations for the British Grand Prix.
The Italian team enjoyed a better weekend in Hungary two weeks ago, beating both Red Bulls in qualifying with Vettel finishing sixth in the race.
But the loss of engine power compared to 2019 and a draggy car is likely to be a big hindrance around the high-speed Silverstone layout, meaning Ferrari may well be back on the fringes of the top 10.
“I think on paper it is not a track where we should be strongest with the current package that we have,” the four-time champion admitted on Thursday.
“But we are here to race and I always look forward to being on the grid and what we can do.
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“There’s always decisions that need to be taken during the race, strategy. It doesn’t look like rain for this weekend but we are in the UK so we never know, it’s probably where rain was born!
“I guess we are the underdog but maybe we can still have a good fight.”
That approach was also adopted by teammate Charles Leclerc, who added: “I think we expect two quite difficult weekends on paper, but I always like to try and be optimistic, so I’ll have the same mindset going into the weekend, but realistically I think it will be difficult.”
So far this year, except for his incredible drive to second in the first Austria race, the Monegasque has been mostly slower than Vettel.
A poor tyre strategy didn’t help his cause either in Hungary, however, and Leclerc downplayed suggestions he was struggling with the 2020 Prancing Horse.
“I think every car and every year it’s different and you need to adapt a little bit your driving style,” he explained.
“The first races in Austria I felt quite good with the car. In Hungary, I did a mistake with the way I wanted the car for qualifying but it was actually alright for the race.
“At the end, you always see a few things you could change to get better but overall I had not many problems adapting to it.”