Ferrari’s Leclerc refuses to give up fight for F1 title

CHARLES Leclerc will believe he can win the world championship “until the very end” and has vowed not to dwell on the mistakes which leave his title ambitions hanging by a thread.

The Monegasque heads into tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix 63 points behind Max Verstappen after he crashed out while leading last weekend’s race in France.

Verstappen benefitted from Leclerc’s high-profile mistake to move the equivalent of two-and-ahalf victories clear of his Ferrari rival with 10 rounds remaining.

But the 24-year-old has not given up hope of claiming his first title.

“I will believe in it until the very end,” said Leclerc. “There is nothing that will help me dwelling on the past and that mistake.

“I made that mistake, and it cost me a lot of points. I am aware of that, but I need to move on, focus 100 per cent, and try to win this race.

“If we win all the races and Max finishes second we can still win the title. I am relying on myself doing that which is a challenging task. Of course, it is a very optimistic goal but I don’t want to look into it any more negatively than that.”

A furious Leclerc locked himself away at his Monaco apartment in the 48 hours after his crash.

Ferrari have not won a world championship since Kimi Raikkonen took the title in 2007, and Leclerc was asked if the pressure of ending Ferrari’s drought is weighing heavily on his mind. “No, really not,” he said. “I don’t think about this. Even though Ferrari remains the Ferrari of 2000s, the team is very different and we are in a different place.

Yesterday Leclerc headed McLaren’s West Country driver Lando Norris in practice.

Leclerc was 0.217 seconds quicker than Norris, who surprisingly beat the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Leclerc was comfortably clear of the two drivers who will most likely be his key rivals this weekend.

Sainz was 0.231secs behind his team-mate and world champion Verstappen 0.283secs off the pace.

Mercedes appeared to be struggling. George Russell was their quickest driver in eighth place, 0.910secs slower than Leclerc.

Pictures: Francois Nel/Getty Images & AP Photo/Darko Bandic Left, Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving his Ferrari during practice ahead of tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest’s Hungaroring. Above, Leclerc talks to the media at the circuit