System 1 | Tenth place behind McLaren F1: Leclerc judges his speed “very surprising”

Contrary to all expectations, Ferrari was not the 2nd power in the Chinese Grand Prix – it was McLaren F1.

Lando Norris even proved that he had a good level ahead of the two Ferraris. Charles Leclerc finished 10 seconds behind the leading McLaren F1 in Shanghai.

On both sides, in Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, it was expected that the Scuderia would show the best speed of the race in Shanghai – the Monegasque hoped to return to the podium even when starting 6.

“McLaren F1 was too strong” regrets Charles Leclerc.

So Leclerc was equally surprised by the pace of the McLaren F1, which had expected to suffer badly in Shanghai to the 5th place.

“I think Piastri had the damage of the bottom of the flat, which definitely helped us. Lando was very strong. The two Red Bulls too. So we couldn’t do anything better. »

“It’s surprising because we suffered especially on the hard tire. On mediums, I really thought we could put pressure on McLaren and especially Lando. As soon as we put the hard tires on they were half a second faster, which is crazy because it’s a big difference and I don’t understand why yet. »

It is clear that they are difficult people who gave the Scuderia a headache…

“I don’t think as a team we found a rhythm, especially on the hards, which is amazing because the strength of this car since the beginning of the year is that it has a lot of power in all conditions with hard tires. . »

“It’s amazing. We will look at this issue and try to understand what went wrong with this complex relay. »

“Lando, at first I thought we were going to fight him. I was managing my tires well until the safety car corrected the situation a bit, all the strategies combined, which is a bit of a shame because I think we were doing a good job. Then, on the hard ones, we were slow. »

“We expected this weekend to be very similar or consistent with what we have seen since the start of the season, but we fought more. »

Charles Leclerc at least looked in better shape in qualifying, preparing his tires better on lap one than Suzuka. Will he be able to confirm his recovery in Miami?

“Yes, 100%. »

“There has been a lot of work on this. It has not yet reached the level I want to be, but I have thought about the direction and soon I will go back to the top. »

Charles Leclerc awaits progress at Imola

In the end, isn’t this weekend really disappointing for Maranello? Is there anything to save?

“No, not a weekend like this. Finishing where we finished is not our goal. »

“But I think what will change the situation is the development (expected at Imola). So we need to focus on this. Once we have this development, it will set the direction for the rest of the season. So we have to make sure that everything goes well. »