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Charles Leclerc reckons Red Bull will be back to their top form in Suzuka as the circuit involves managing tire degradation. Speaking to on-site media ahead of the 2024 Japanese GP, the Ferrari driver felt that their place in the constructors standings is not an accurate representation of their form.
Ferrari is currently only four points behind Red Bull in the constructors standings, which has led to the notion that the reigning champions might not dominate in 2024. The first three circuits on the calendar have not been the best to determine a certain pecking order as they are generally considered outliers, but Suzuka could be the first circuit on the calendar for teams to get a better understanding of their true performance.
Given that Honda’s home circuit is a traditional circuit and not a street track, tire management remains the key factor for a good result.
Charles Leclerc also downplayed their team’s form from Melbourne and suggested that the only positive takeaway was that the gap between them and Red Bull had reduced. Leclerc further claimed that Ferrari is banking on its upgrades to chase Red Bull’s performance.
It has been speculated that the Maranello squad could potentially bring a small upgrade to Suzuka and then a major one in Imola. Asked if Ferrari could be optimistic about chasing Red Bull in Japan, Charles Leclerc said:
“I mean, I think for now, with what we know, I would expect Red Bulls to still have the upper hand this weekend. Especially coming race day, I think we have a particular strength whenever tracks attract, where front graining is a thing. In Australia, it was a case two weeks ago and there we were very strong coming race day. I think this weekend it's less a case of front graining but more overall degradation. So there I think Red Bull will get back to where they were before that.”
“However it's a very important part of the season where we need to maximize all the points that we can which we have done because if we look at the first three races I don't think that being only four points behind Red Bull represents our true performance. Yes we are closer than what we were in the past. But I think we've done a particularly good job at maximizing what we have at the moment."
Shedding light on when Ferrari could have a better idea of their position in the pecking order, Charles Leclerc said:
"Until the upgrades which I hope will put us in a better position to fight them regularly on Sundays. We need to bring as many points home as possible and That's why I think our start of the season is positive for that.”
Charles Leclerc highlights reasons for being outperformed by Carlos Sainz in Melbourne
Known for his qualifying prowess, Charles Leclerc held himself accountable for being out-qualified by Carlos Sainz. He claimed he tried a different approach in Q3 in Melbourne which didn’t turn out as expected.
With a compromised grid position, most of the performance was down to the race where the Monegasque felt he was unable to manage his tires in the second stint. Lando Norris, who finished behind Leclerc, reckoned that McLaren had the pace to beat the Ferrari driver.
Asked to pinpoint the reasons behind his poor qualifying performance, Charles Leclerc said:
“I think in qualifying it was very clear that it was just myself. I've had some very very good qualifying before that. I think it was the 7th first row in a row, which is a good thing. However, in Australia, I did a good job on the Saturday. Then the Sunday, I'm less worried. I think the second stint was quite a bit compromised by our race situation. We had to pit early because of Lando and Oscar, the beginning of the race. And then the second stint was very long.”
“So of course, it was a bit more difficult to manage that second stint. But I think that was more down to what I had done wrong on the Saturday and that there's not much to say apart from that coming into every qualifying. You try to extract the best I tried something in Q3 that didn't work out and it's the way it is I'm sure we'll recover from that.”
Charles Leclerc had qualified fifth on the grid for the Australian GP whereas Carlos Sainz was second. The Spanish race winner was only two-tenths of a second slower than Max Verstappen, who was the pole sitter.
However, the Ferrari duo were split by roughly three-tenths of a second. In the championship standings, the former Sauber driver is second with a total of 47 points and leads Sainz by a margin of seven points.
