0
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc says that Mercedes have the advantage for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix which has been disrupted by the incoming Typhoon Hagibis.
As qualifying will take place on Sunday morning the drivers were able to gain an insight into their rivals from the FP2 performances.
The drivers pushed harder than usual in FP2 because if qualifying is not run due to the weather, the starting grid will be formed from the times recorded in the second practice session.
"I think Mercedes is very very quick this weekend, after FP2 I think everyone approached it like a qualifying because we are having to do qualifying on Sunday morning so this is more the real picture of the weekend and they seem to be very quick," Leclerc said.
"For now, we are not quick enough to challenge Mercedes but we are pushing to be challenging them on Sunday morning if we are qualifying then."
The Monegasque driver admitted that the Italian car was not able to match the Mercedes but complimented the feel of the Ferrari and said it was just down on grip compared to the Silver Arrow.
"The long-run was not great compared to Mercedes, we were ok compared to Red Bull, more or less the same. I would need to check the data, I haven't checked everything but on the low fuel, it seems that we are lacking a little bit of pace.
"So we need to work on that and to try and understand. The car didn't feel bad, balance was quite good but it seems that we are lacking a little bit of overall grip".
The 21-year-old also said that he was looking forward to catching up on his sleep because he was suffering from slight jet lag so welcomed the unexpected day off due to the incoming Typhoon Hagibis.
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
78,003 comments on Ferrari
10 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Charles Leclerc
615,584 comments on Mercedes 57 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Mercedes
Replies (0)
Login to reply