Charles Leclerc believes the team has momentum coming into the Mexico City Grand Prix; however, he has concerns about the SF-26’s sensitivity.
The Ferrari driver comes to Mexico after narrowly missing out on victory in Austin. However, Leclerc remains uncertain that Ferrari are on the same level as Mercedes after struggling to find the perfect window in the SF-26.
The team have consistently seen Maranello team’s pace fluctuate between sessions. In COTA, Leclerc only qualified fourth despite being marked as one of the favourites for pole after Practice.
When asked by the media, including Motorsport Week, if he believed the team were coming in as a team to beat, he was unsure.
“I don’t know,” said Leclerc. “Honestly, I think it’s getting very close, and we have good momentum. With Singapore and Austin as well, we’ve maximised our potential, and I was relatively happy with the pace we’ve shown.
“Whether we are the favourites for this weekend, I don’t fully agree. I think Mercedes remain the favourites wherever we go. Red Bull are very, very strong as well recently. But if we maximise everything we have, then I hope it can be a great weekend for us.
“As we’ve seen, I think the optimisation of our package is what will eventually make the most difference. It’s so difficult to put everything in the right window coming into qualifying that, if we manage to do so, I think we’ve got a chance here.”
Looking back to Austin, Leclerc said temperature changes have a significant impact on the SF-26, which becomes sensitive once it leaves the optimum operating window.
“I mean, we’ve got a strong car, but it’s a car that is very sensitive whenever we get off the optimum window,” Leclerc told the media.
“We’ve paid the price a little bit recently in Q3, particularly when the track temperatures are going down. Then we just struggle a bit more compared to the others to keep everything in the right window.
“That’s what happened in Austin, unfortunately, in the lap that counted the most out of Friday and Saturday. Eventually, we lost a front row because of that. It’s a limitation we know about and that we’re focused on. Whether we have the solution in the short term, I’m not sure.
“But at least it’s a point of focus and something we’ll make sure to try to get as right as possible coming into Saturday here.”
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