Charles Leclerc reckons Ferrari’s race pace is “very strong” as it chases its fourth victory in succession, at this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.
Ferrari triumphed in Belgium and Italy, where its pace was expected due to the power-heavy nature of the respective venues, and took a 1-2 in Singapore, to widespread surprise.
Leclerc led the way through the opening practice session in Russia, before placing second to Max Verstappen during the afternoon running.
“It was quite a good day,” said Leclerc. “I think Red Bull are quite strong, but we focused on ourselves.
“There is still quite a lot of lap time to be gained on our side. The balance was not exactly how I wanted it to be, especially in the qualifying runs, but the race pace looked very strong, so that’s good.”
On where Ferrari can gain the most time, Leclerc said: “It’s mostly the balance throughout the qualifying lap.
“It’s a track where the rears are struggling a little bit in the last sector, so you need to maybe compromise it a bit in the first sector to be better in the third sector, and we are struggling to find the balance in that.”
Sebastian Vettel was a subdued fifth by the close of play but expressed confidence of displaying stronger pace come Saturday.
“We tried some stuff,” said Vettel. “Some runs were good, some were not, so obviously we need to make sure we understand exactly why, and decide for the right things.
“But I’m quite happy. The car was good as some stage today, so I’m pretty confident it will be tomorrow.”
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