ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- The odds appear stacked against Ferrari in their quest for a first championship since 2008, but Charles Leclerc said there's no reason a miracle cannot happen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Leclerc will start last, with teammate Carlos Sainz third at the final race, where Ferrari trails McLaren by 21 points in the constructors' title race.
McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start first and second after a comprehensive performance in qualifying. Leclerc was eliminated in Q2 after having a lap deleted for track limits. With Ferrari already incurring a 10-place grid penalty for changing his battery store ahead of the week, he will drop to 19th, between the Williams' drivers who also have grid penalties.
"I believe in miracles," Leclerc said on Saturday evening. "It makes our life very difficult, that's for sure. But with the 10-place grid penalty it was always going to be difficult. But I see an opportunity to do something very special and I'll do my best to do it. I'll believe in it until the very last lap. Anything can happen."
Asked how he was feeling, Leclerc said: "Not so good after a qualifying like that. We were a little bit better. It's true that I don't think we would have managed to beat the McLarens, they seemed too strong, but we could have been fourth.
"It was either P15 or P20 and P15 is better than P20. But I get my lap time deleted it means we start from P20. We are not making our life any easier. However it motivates me to do something very special tomorrow.
"My goal remains the same: it's to win the constructors' championship. And I still believe in it as much as I did yesterday, even though on paper obviously it's going to be hard".
With Sainz starting third and the McLaren pair likely to favour a more conservative approach, Sainz suggested he will go for it at the start.
"I have a bit less to lose tomorrow," Sainz said. "We know we need to do more than we did today and we are going to go for it tomorrow because one, we need it for the constructors', we want to have a shot at winning, we need to win tomorrow and one of the McLarens to have an issue and Charles to get back in the points".
Sainz said the championship, which traditionally receives less coverage than the drivers' championship, deserves the top billing it is getting this weekend.
"I think once every fan, every journalist or every person who doesn't fully buy the constructors' championship... the moment you visit a Formula 1 factory you understand why it exists and why it's so important.
"When you visit a Formula 1 factory and you see more than 1000 people working for just us drivers to take the car and make it perform, we are just the last bit of the chain there is behind all this things. Every single head and guy from the team counts in making the difference and its the drivers' job and the team principal's job to make these people feel like it counts so every single one can make a hundredth of a difference in the team.
"Those hundredths add up to the last tenth that maybe made McLaren quicker today. That is where all that last difference is and why it's so important".