Charles Leclerc has addressed whether he is back in the F1 drivers' title fight, following his recent form and Max Verstappen dropping points in Mexico City.
The Monegasque driver finished third at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, three places ahead of Verstappen who is now 71 points ahead with 120 remaining available.
Leclerc is in fine form and has claimed a podium in six of the last seven races, including two victories in Monza and Austin.
Recently, the Ferrari driver has been taking consistent points out of Verstappen, with the latest advancement having been after the Dutchman received two 10-second time penalties for colliding with Lando Norris.
The two drivers clashing is helping Leclerc, something he does recognise. However, in the 27-year-old's eyes, the real fight is between himself and Norris for second place.
"Again, I welcome Max being as aggressive to Lando as possible because it helps me, at least it gives me chances to be closer to Lando in the drivers' championship because it's still a fight," said Leclerc.
"If anything, it's more a fight between Lando and myself, than with Max, he has quite a big advantage in points.
"On my side, I don't think about the drivers' championship, realistically. As I was saying earlier, I think first the approach is not to start thinking about the title.
"That doesn't help me achieve anything more. It's by focusing race by race."
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Leclerc recognises slim 'chances'
It will take something quite extraordinary for Leclerc to claim his first F1 world title, with even winning the remaining four races not being enough.
Leclerc requires both Verstappen and Norris to suffer multiple blows to have a fighting chance going into the season finale in Abu Dhabi on December 8.
Winning all the remaining races is something the Ferrari ace can control; however, Verstappen experiencing further setbacks is out of his power.
"I just feel like it's not in my control whether I win the drivers' championship or… Let me explain better. Of course, there's part of it that is in my control," added Leclerc.
"If I win all [the remaining] races, that puts most of the chances on my side. But even if I do that, I've got to have Max have very poor weekends and I don't rely on that.
"So I'll just try and do the best possible end of the season, and then we'll do the math at the end of the season."
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