Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari’s qualifying show is a real indication of its present Method 1 efficiency ranges, with Lewis Hamilton’s dash race victory on the Chinese language Grand Prix an outlier.
Hamilton sprung a shock on Friday when he took pole place for the dash, which he then transformed into his first victory for Ferrari, having struggled throughout the opening race in Australia final week.
Regardless of having fun with a much bigger successful margin than all however one of many dash races from 2024, neither Hamilton nor Leclerc have been capable of replicate such a efficiency in qualifying for the grand prix.
As an alternative, Hamilton will begin fifth with Leclerc alongside – the pair having began seventh and eighth in Melbourne with the order reversed.
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Nonetheless, after underperforming in Australia and Hamilton’s considerably shock Shanghai dash success, Leclerc feels Ferrari has now levelled out with its qualifying displaying.
“This afternoon I feel the potential was simply not there,” he mentioned.
“The general grip was simply not there, and I feel in Australia I felt like we did not do a fantastic job in qualifying, and we have been additional away than what we thought however, if we had put every thing collectively, I feel we have been anticipating to be three tenths off.
“I feel these three tenths that we see at this time are usually the place we’re. Aside from [the fact that] Lewis did a fantastic, nice job yesterday, however I really feel like at this time I did a very good job. I am positive Lewis did a very good job as properly and that is the potential of the automotive.
“Is there a bit bit extra within the automotive? Possibly. Three tenths, I do not assume so. However we have to sit up for tomorrow.”
Leclerc began the dash in fourth however completed a spot additional again, having been overtaken by George Russell after which struggled to discover a well past the Mercedes as his tyres suffered.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photos
“This morning we had good tempo within the automotive, particularly in the direction of the tip of the stint, however being in soiled air is all the time trickier, so I had wished for a greater quali,” Leclerc added.
“The tyre administration regarded good, however we must be cautious as a result of, on my facet, I used to be struggling rather a lot being in soiled air. Lewis had actually good tempo in free air. We simply have to try to discover free air from the place we begin.
“That is going to be a bit tough as a result of, beginning P5 and P6, we have fairly just a few automobiles in entrance, so to search out free air isn’t simple. However we’ll attempt our greatest and hopefully our race tempo is best than the blokes round.”
Hamilton had entered qualifying hopeful of repeating his success from Friday however feels modifications to the set-up left his Ferrari tougher to drive.
“We began actually optimistic naturally, however then we made simply a few small modifications, tweaks to the automotive, and it actually put the automotive on a knife-edge,” he mentioned.
“I feel the wind picked up a bit bit as properly, so the automotive was simply trickier at this time. It was tougher to place laps collectively.
“You need a automotive that is balanced. In the meanwhile, from one nook to the following, the automotive has a distinct steadiness.
“You simply need a automotive which you can depend on. Once you assault the corners, you realize it is going to stick with you rather than lock up and go on or snap into oversteer and, when it is unpredictable, then you definitely’ve acquired no hope.”
Pictures from Chinese language GP – Dash Race & Qualifying
On this article
Mark Mann-Bryans
Method 1
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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