Leclerc's sobering Ferrari statement, as McLaren expectations confirmed
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari had a positive start to the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend but admits McLaren remain well ahead on race pace, with Red Bull still holding the upper hand in qualifying trim.
Leclerc's Friday in Mexico was rather strong, with the Ferrari driver taking the top spot in FP1 and P2 behind Max Verstappen in FP2. Nevertheless he refrains from tipping the Scuderia as a contender for the race win in Mexico.
“Yeah, I mean, Friday was a positive one,” Leclerc said after finishing practice. “We are still on the back foot compared to Red Bull, especially on low fuel, and McLaren, especially on high fuel.
"So, I mean, no surprises there. We expected them to be the strongest team coming here, but we’ve done pretty good laps.
"I felt quite good with the car. So we’ve just got to build from that to more and hopefully we can gain a little bit more performance.”
The Monegasque driver, who scored Ferrari’s most recent podium in Austin, believes the team’s pace over long runs remains their weak point despite small gains.
“On the high fuel we were maybe a little bit better compared to Red Bull but McLaren was in a league of their own and by a lot,” he said.
“So I don’t know exactly what is going on there. I hope they were on low fuel but I don’t know, they seem to be very strong.
"So for now it doesn’t seem realistic for us to be fighting with them in the race, but we are going to try and make changes in order to be very strong,” he concluded.
McLaren puzzles Hamilton
Leclerc's teammate at Ferrari Lewis Hamilton admitted to have been surprised by the Scuderi'as pace on Friday, whilst at the same time, McLaren's left him dumbfounded. Hamilton also had his say on how the team after managing their two drivers in the intense title fight. You can read his full comments here.
GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update
Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.
Read also
Popular on GPBlog
McLaren driver unwell taken to medical facility after Mexico GP outing
Verstappen ups title ante with P1 in FP2, Norris P4, Piastri crumbles
Red Bull driver summoned to stewards after Mexico FP1
