Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur insists that the team is not focussed on the Formula 1 constructors’ World Championship, while conceding that the fight remains wide open.
The Italian outfit currently lies third on 425 points, behind leaders McLaren on 476 and Red Bull on 456.
Ferrari has scored strongly in the races since the summer break, with Charles Leclerc winning at Monza and taking pole and finishing a close second in Baku.
However Vasseur insists that the team is not yet looking at the bigger picture.
“From the beginning, we are not focused on the championship,” said the Frenchman. “We are taking it race after race, and I think it’s the right approach.
“The championship is really difficult to read, because it doesn’t matter if it’s the first group or the second one, it’s so tight that you can move from a good weekend, you are doing a 1-2 and the weekend after you are 7-8.
“Have a look on Mercedes what they did before the break and after the break. And I think this is true for everybody. And I think it makes no sense to imagine how could be the picture in two or three months.
“We have still something like 400 points on the table, I think, for the teams’ championship. And it’s a lot. It means, let’s be focused on Baku, on Singapore, and then on the next one, and try to do a good job. And we’ll see at the end.”
Vasseur did acknowledge that the team is a good run, with Leclerc logging four podium finishes in a row.
“Yeah, we are in a good sequence,” he said. “But again, it was like this for everybody from the beginning of the season. If you remember the first four races that Red Bull was flying, then we had a good sequence. Then it was Mercedes, then McLaren.
“We are really in a pack, and I don’t remember when it was so tight in F1, with four teams able to win, eight drivers able to win. And you really never know when you are going somewhere if you will fight for P1, P2 or P7, P8.
“It means that for sure we are in a good momentum. We did the pole position last week. Charles scored a lot of points the last four weekends or five weekends, Carlos is performing, and he will perform this weekend again.
“But we never know. That it means that we have just to stay focused on the next session to try to get the best from the car that we have, and to do a weekend without mistakes, because this is costing a lot.”
