Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been left ‘surprised’ by the early pace of rivals Mercedes after the first day of running in Bahrain.
Pre-season testing last week led many to believe that Ferrari were the most likely outfit to mount a challenge against Red Bull’s Formula 1 domination in recent years.
However, it was Mercedes that ended Thursday’s practice atop the timing sheets as Lewis Hamilton headed a Silver Arrows one-two in FP2.
Hamilton’s 1:30.374s saw him sit two-tenths clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell. Meanwhile, the fastest Ferrari, piloted by Carlos Sainz, sat fourth fastest a further tenth adrift.
“It just shows you can never look into testing because people tend to not show all their cards,” Sainz said after Thursday’s running.
“It’s clear that Mercedes will be in the fight and Red Bull were a lot stronger in the long run than the short run so I’m expecting them to be also stronger tomorrow and Sunday.”
After making a mistake during his qualifying simulation, Leclerc left practice sitting ninth fastest but the Monegasque is expecting to be in the front-field tussle for the remainder of the weekend.
“No bad surprises, no good surprises,” reported Leclerc, who added that the SF-24 performed “exactly as we expected the car to be”.
“I made a mistake on my fast lap and it’s a one-lap tyre and that was that,” he continued. “Apart from that, it’s all about tomorrow and taking a step forward.
“Mercedes looks strong which is a bit of a surprise but we don’t know what fuel load they were running so we will have that answered tomorrow.”
Despite the evident step made by Mercedes, Leclerc assured that he would “be in the mix” this weekend.
“We are quite happy with the feeling of the car so now let’s wait until tomorrow to see where we are,” the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix winner said.
“I expect to be there with the others, the only question mark is obviously Red Bull and how far they are in front. But with the others, I’d be surprised if we aren’t in the mix.
“I felt quite good with the car and it’s a much better start compared to last year,” Leclerc said of the Ferrari’s long-run performance.
“We arrived at the first race and it was very difficult to find the right window and where we could optimise our car. Today, that’s not the case.
“We know we are in the right window for performing at our best with this specific car and now it’s all about tomorrow, trying to anticipate tomorrow’s conditions and get the most out of the weekend.”
Sainz appeared less confident having faced braking issues on the opening day and was also left with concerns regarding long-run performance.
“We have had a lot of problems today,” the Spaniard revealed. “Issues with the brakes, brake material and consistency which is something that didn’t happen in testing. But for some reason today we were compromised by this.
“[We need to] finetune the balance, especially for the long run. We seem to be on the more aggressive side of the tyres and we need to put together a better long-run package.”
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