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Leclerc sends warning to Verstappen: 'Should be closer to Red Bull'
It has been a relatively good start for Ferrari in the 2024 season and Charles Leclerc expects that to continue in China. He even suggests the Italian team could be closer to Red Bull than previous weekends. The Prancing Horse sit second in the constructors' standings with 120 points, and their drivers sit third and forth in the drivers' standings. Carlos Sainz even managed to win the Australian Grand Prix.
However, the team from Maranello would have been hoping to challenge Red Bull at the front of the grid more than they have been able to. This was highlighted at the Japanese Grand Prix where Max Verstappen took a dominant victory and finished 20 seconds clear of Sainz in third place, with the Ferrari not even challenging the Austrian team.
But speaking at the press conference for the Chinese Grand Prix, Leclerc believes that Ferrari have the race pace to close the gap between themselves and the rapid Red Bulls.
Leclerc interested to see how the Ferarri 'behaves'
Because of the coronavirus pandemic that rocked the world, there has not been a race at the Shanghai International Circuit since 2019, so teams and drivers are not sure how their respective cars will cope. But Leclerc says that the gap between Ferrari and Red Bull will diminish come race day.
"I think we will be closer to them [Red Bull] in the race, but let's see. Obviously, it's been a very long time since we drove here. I saw the track was painted or there was something strange on it, so we will have to see how our car behaves on that and what are the main limitations in the race. But on paper, I think we should be closer to them."
The Monegasque driver also believes that "the level of confidence" at Ferrari has been "quite stable since the beginning of the season", despite their distance to Red Bull in Suzuka, as Leclerc continued by saying: "On paper, I think it's a track where we could be a bit stronger compared to Suzuka, but we'll just approach it the same way. I still think that Red Bull will have the upper hand this weekend, and we'll just have to focus on ourselves, because it can be very easy, as we've seen, especially in qualifying in Suzuka. You can do a good job the Saturday and then you don't go from fourth to fifth, but you go from fourth to eighth.
"It's going to be very important, especially on the sprint weekend. We've got two qualifying sessions this weekend to extract the maximum out of the car on both qualifyings. Then in the race, I think we are quite strong this year."