Charles Leclerc says the weight of expectations at Ferrari or the pressure to bring the world title back to Maranello are not the cause of the Scuderia's missteps this season.
Ferrari last won the drivers' championship in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen while the Italian outfit's last Constructors' title dates back to 2008.
For many, Ferrari's 13-year championship dry spell is like a heavy burden on F1's most successful team, or like an encumbrance that weighs on every one of its crew members, including Leclerc who threw away big points on two occasions this season after enjoying a commanding lead in the Drivers' standings in the early part of the Scuderia's campaign.
But the team itself, despite being equipped with a championship winning car, has also stumbled multiple times in its battle against Red Bull this year due to reliability issues or strategy blunders.
However, Leclerc denies that Ferrari's missteps are rooted in the expectations levied upon the team.
"I mean, I don't think about this," said Leclerc when asked if the pressure to win the title weighed on himself or on Ferrari as a whole.
"Even though Ferrari remains Ferrari of 2000, the team is very different, and we are [in] a different place now.
"The last few years have been very difficult for us. We did an incredible step from last year to this year to be fighting for wins and obviously, the goal remains to be World Champion.
"It still remains the same goal for me, even though that now is going to be more difficult.
"But it doesn't add pressure that it has been so many years, and we haven't won."
While improving is a never-ending quest for any team, Leclerc is convinced that the foundation built by Ferrari these past years should enable the Scuderia to win the title.
"I think that the base now is there to win a championship, we just need to put everything together," added the Monegasque.
"Reliability has been a problem this year in which we've lost loads of points, and we'll try to grow from that.
"Hopefully, if we don't have these [problems] for the rest of the year, things are still possible. But I still remain positive."
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