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Leclerc calls on Ferrari to stay realistic during Singapore Grand Prix

Published on 15 Sep 2019 15:35
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By: Coilin Higgins

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has called upon his team to stay realistic as the team get ready to prepare for the Singapore Grand Prix, despite winning the previous two races.

Leclerc took an emotional first win at Spa-Francorchamps and followed it up with a second straight win a week later at Ferrari's home circuit, Monza, these two wins also being the first two wins of the year so far for the Scuderia.

Despite the team's positive form, Leclerc believes that this season's car, the SF90, is still lacking on more downforce reliant circuits such as Singapore compares to rivals Mercedes and Red Bull, and believes that the team can't expect to as competitive as in the previous two races.

“We need to stay realistic. I think we expected that Spa and Monza would be very good races for our car but we also know that the next few races will be a lot more difficult for our car,” Leclerc said, as quoted by Crash.net.

“So, we need to be realistic and, yeah, it’s not going to be easy. I think especially Singapore."

The performance increase in the previous two rounds was thanks to the significant advantage the SF90 holds in straight-line speed, but the team have often been only the third quickest team throughout the season on the tighter circuits such as Hungary and Monaco.

“I think it will be a nice surprise if we are better than what we expect - but what we expect," Leclerc added, "but we expect to struggle there. We’ll see.”

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

I actually think Merc' will dominate here. Aside from back when Merc' had those odd issues around Singapore, they've been very strong around here, and I don't think that will change this year. And I've been surprised everytime that RB hasn't done better around this track, because in theory this s... [Read more]

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Sep 16 2019 - 06:38

F1 News Charles Leclerc Ferrari

Replies (7)

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
I expect Redbull to qualify first and win. Mercedez may have a shot at qualifying for P1. Mclaren should do quite well as well. Absolute poor performers ( besides Williams ) could be Renault, Haas. TR, Alfa, RPF being the 5,6,7.
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- Sep 16 2019 - 01:11
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I actually think Merc' will dominate here. Aside from back when Merc' had those odd issues around Singapore, they've been very strong around here, and I don't think that will change this year. And I've been surprised everytime that RB hasn't done better around this track, because in theory this should be all up their alley. I do however think this track could suit TRH very well, they tend to perform well in the slow corners.
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  Sep 16 2019 - 06:38
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  I think I'm with ya on that Calle. RB has got a good package but the Merc are merciless on the high down force tracks so far. I hope that RB proves us wrong but look at how they have performed on similar tracks so far this year and it will be a tough challenge for the RB team. Predicting Albon will put serious pressure on VER in Singapore. It's also his part of the world so if fan base is any kind of factor it should prove an interesting weekend.
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  Sep 16 2019 - 12:51
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  If Albon could really bring it to VER, it's going to be a delightful race to watch. Hamilton, Verstappen, Albon, Leclerc, Norris, Perez are the racers i am particularly going to follow.
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  Sep 16 2019 - 18:16
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
Would love to see Ferrari bring a good package to stick it to the Mercs, but really don't see it happening. Especially since LeClerc is already saying to tifosi not to get your hopes us.
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- Sep 16 2019 - 13:00
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  Absolute best Ferrari could hope for is, putting one of its drivers on the podium.
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  Sep 16 2019 - 18:14
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Agree with both of you. This is probably one of the least Ferrari tracks on the grid.
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  Sep 16 2019 - 18:45