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Charles Leclerc is optimistic about Ferrari's prospects ahead of the F1 Chinese GP weekend. The track has its unique challenges, with one of them particularly favoring the Italian team. The track in Shanghai tends to be front-limited, which precisely helped the Italian squad get one over Red Bull in Melbourne.
Looking ahead to the F1 Chinese GP race weekend, Charles Leclerc felt that Ferrari could possibly be closer to Red Bull. The Italian car has been transformed as compared to last season. Last year, the car tended to be much better in qualifying but struggled to replicate that form in the races.
This year, it has changed completely, and the characteristics have flipped, Ferrari now tends to be much better over the long run, while it has taken a minor step back in qualifying. Looking ahead to the race weekend in Shanghai, a track where he has only raced twice, Charles Leclerc was optimistic that the car could be closer to Red Bull.
Talking to the media, including RacingNews365, he said:
“I think in the race, we will be yes - but let's see. Obviously, it's been a very long time since we [drove] here. I saw the track was painted or there was something strange on it. We’ll have to see how our car behaves on that and what the main limitations are in the race but on paper I think we should be closer to them.”
Charles Leclerc terms the race in Shanghai to be an exciting challenge
The race weekend in Shanghai will be a sprint weekend, and what that means is only one practice session followed by a qualifying shootout for the sprint. Charles Leclerc is looking forward to the challenge as the Ferrari driver tries to get back on form and finish on the podium.
Outlining how only a single practice session is probably not ideal when coming to a track after five years, the Ferrari driver felt that it was going to be an exciting challenge for everyone involved.
"I have only raced twice here. But it's always been a very, very interesting track, a very nice track to drive on. [It's] a track where there are many, many different lines possible, especially in Turns 1, 2, and 3 and all those long corners," he said.
“There are very different ways of taking those corners which makes it exciting for us. Having only one free practice before qualifying, we’ll have to find the best way as quickly as possible. But again, it's an exciting challenge,” Leclerc added.
Leclerc will be hoping for an improvement in his qualifying form this weekend. He has been out-qualified for two races in a row and will hope to turn the tide against his teammate Carlos Sainz.
