Leclerc: Personal goal 'means nothing' as Ferrari zone in on Mercedes

Charles Leclerc insists that a potential fourth place in the Drivers' Championship "means nothing" to him as he is intent on securing Ferrari P2 in the Constructors'.

Leclerc is currently seventh in the Drivers' on 188 points, 12 behind team-mate Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso and seven behind McLaren's Lando Norris.

The Monegasque is guaranteed a top-seven finish as Mercedes' George Russell is 28 behind on 160 with only 26 up for grabs, but the five-time Grand Prix winner is focused on steering Ferrari to second in the Constructors'.

In that battle against Mercedes, Ferrari has 388 points, just four behind the 392 Lewis Hamilton and Russell have combined for, with the Scuderia having whittled away at the advantage over previous races.

Reflecting on Ferrari's chances after the first day of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice, Leclerc was optimistic of its chances of a strong weekend - and put team glory above his own.

Leclerc's cautious optimism

"Fourth place in the Drivers' means absolutely nothing," Leclerc explained after finishing FP2 fastest.

"Second in the Constructors' though is nice, honestly I would really like for the team to be second at the end of this weekend.

"We've had a tough season, and everybody deserves it. They've worked like crazy in order to bring the upgrades earlier and probably deserve to be in second at the end of the year.

"I will do absolutely everything [to achieve that] and in the Drivers', I don't have too much hope of finishing fourth, if it happens, then good."

FP2 running, and race pace simulations were curtailed by a pair of red flags in the session, with Leclerc optimistic that one key Ferrari trait would shine through.

"We are going to go into the race with as much information as we do a Sprint weekend," he said.

"We have very little information, so it is going to be very interesting, and we'll try to maximise that limited information we have, which is normally one of our strong points. I hope we can take advantage."