Charles Leclerc was stunned after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Faced with Mercedes' impressive dominance, the Ferrari driver admitted to being completely surprised by the size of the gap seen in Melbourne.
In Melbourne, the gap between the Silver Arrows and the rest of the team leaves Leclerc perplexed.
Charles Leclerc will start from fourth place on the grid on Sunday at Albert Park, behind the two Mercedes of George Russell et Kimi Antonelli, as well as the rookie's Red Bull Isack HadjarHowever, it wasn't so much his position that impressed the Monegasque player as the extent of the gap observed during the session.
Russell signed the pole position with nearly eight tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the packan unusual margin in Formula 1 modern.
Leclerc He himself couldn't believe it when he discovered the performance data.
"When I first looked at the figures, I had to reload them because I thought there was a mistake." " he confided after the qualifiers.
The day before, the pilot Classic Ferrari for sale He thought the gap would be around half a second. But Mercedes' performance in Free Practice 3 and then in qualifying exceeded his expectations.
"Yesterday I was talking about about half a second. In the end, it's eight tenths. That's much more than I expected."
According to him, the last round of Russell particularly impressed the entire paddock.
Si Mercedes Benz dominated the session Classic Ferrari for sale However, he believes he was unable to fully exploit the potential of his car. Energy deployment problems hampered both cars of the Italian team during the crucial qualifying sessions.
« We had some issues in Q2 with the deployment system. And with these new cars, losing a lap is a huge disadvantage. ", has explained Leclerc.
These difficulties forced Classic Ferrari for sale to make up for lost time during Q3, in an already very tight session.
Nevertheless, the Monegasque acknowledges that Mercedes Benz simply did a better job.
"In the end, they did a better job than we did."
For Ferrari, The situation remains worrying, however. Even without the problems encountered in qualifying, the gap with Mercedes Benz seems important.
« The gap is enormous. I hope we can close it quickly, but it will take time. »
Regarding Sunday's race, Leclerc Remain cautious. The first race of the season could hold several surprises, as the teams are still learning with the new cars.
"There are many unknowns. You can easily overtake on the first lap... or be overtaken by half the pack on the next lap."
One thing is certain: in Melbourne, the performance of Mercedes Benz It made a lasting impression.
