Must? Leclerc maintains that Ferrari “must” defeat Mercedes in their meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Before this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Ferrari needs to defeat Mercedes to take second place in the constructors’ title, according to Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari knows their drivers must beat Lewis Hamilton and George Russell going into the last race of the season, and they start the race trailing Mercedes by four points.

Even though Toto Wolff has expressed disappointment at having to compete for second place rather than first, the prize money differential is probably in the tens of millions, thus being the “best of the rest” is more valuable than simply bragging rights.

Both Ferrari drivers, who expressed their excitement for the race ahead of the weekend, have reaffirmed this.

Leclerc said to Canal+, “I’d love for us to finish P2, that would be great for the team.”

We’ve put forth a great deal of effort. We had a poor start to the season and believed we would be competing for the crowns, but we soon realized that was not going to happen. Thus, we must complete P2.

Sainz feeling Ferrari pressure

This weekend, both drivers have the added motivation of trying to place as high as possible in the drivers’ championship.

Even though Leclerc is presently in seventh place and could theoretically go up to fourth, Carlos Sainz faces a serious struggle to hold onto his current position. But the Spaniard is just thinking about the team’s fight.

“It’s a worthwhile objective to pursue and it heightens the final race,” Sainz remarked.

“After all of our travels, we’re all exhausted. It will be beneficial to experience that level of pressure and intensity in the final race in order to place second.