Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start his 150th GP from the second row after qualifying P4 on the grid for the Japanese GP.
The Monegasque had a smooth run throughout Qualifying, making his way into Q3 without any issues.
Leclerc posted his fastest lap, a 1.27.299, on his first run in Q3, translating into a provisional third place on the grid.
However, the 27-year-old was not able to improve on his time in his second run and dropped a position to P4.
In the print media zone after Qualifying for the F1 Japanese GP, Leclerc notes that the result is a reflection of where Ferrari is in terms of pace.
The Monegasque used the practice sessions to test out different set-ups and noted that he feels “more at ease” with his Ferrari compared to the start of the season
“I mean, I say that, but at the same time, I know that I’m not believing in any luck [to be on the podium].
“So yeah, our position at the moment is probably that.
“Honestly, I think we’re even a bit behind Mercedes in terms of actual pace.
“So, we’ll see.
“But in race pace, I’ve done quite a lot of changes over the weekend.
“I’m in a very different place compared to the beginning of the season, and I feel a lot more at ease with the car.
“So, maybe I hope it can surprise us in a good way.”
Gaining confidence
Ferrari made significant changes to their car over the winter, which left the team struggling to make the most out of their package.
Heading into the Japanese GP, Leclerc feels capable of being on top of the car more consistently, which he believes will help going forward.
Leclerc points to the grip being one of the main issues plaguing Ferrari, but hopes that in-season upgrades will help Ferrari close the gap.
“I’m finding answers on what I need, which is good already, but that’s not unlocking so much performance.
“So yeah. But I can be at 100% of the car more often, that’s for sure, and I’m confident that this will give me the confidence that I need going forward in the season.
“But then the performance and the overall grip remains the overall grip, and this I cannot change.
“Hopefully, with the upgrades that we will have during the season, it will help us to close the gaps to the guys in front.”
Lack of grip poses a challenge to closing the gap to the front
Overall, Ferrari is still struggling to strike the right balance between the varying speed ranges, though Leclerc feels that this is an issue all teams face.
To the Ferrari driver, the lack of speed and grip poses the biggest challenge in closing the gap to McLaren and Red Bull, which becomes particularly apparent in the corners.
“Yes, but I think that’s the same for everybody.
“For me, it was mostly about the balance. And there I found something for sure. On the other things, again, we just need to wait a little bit further to gain overall load.
“It’s not really how sensitive the ride heights are, or where we are standing with the ride heights.
“It’s just that we are not fast enough, and we don’t have enough grip to match what McLaren and Red Bull are doing in corners.”
Potential for rain during Japanese GP
With rain posing as a potential game changer for tomorrow’s Japanese GP, one can’t help but look at the Australian GP, where strategic choices hampered Ferrari’s chances for a better result.
Leclerc notes that analysing and understanding issues is part of the growing process for the team.
“There’s been some work, of course. And there’s always analysis whenever we get a call wrong, to try and understand and grow from that.
“And we went through the same process, obviously, with this time also the experience of Lewis, and tried to understand if there was any gap that we could improve.
“So that’s what we have done, but the process was the same.”
