Charles Leclerc’s fourth place and Lewis Hamilton’s seventh are a real reflection of the present standings. Lando Norris’ mistake allowed Charles to maintain his place within the second row, assembly the crew’s expectations, however the much less constructive information for the Scuderia is that three completely different groups, Pink Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes, are forward.
“The margins are decreased,” says Frederic Vasseur whenever, which is true, however they’re additionally constant. General, Leclerc misplaced most of his ultimate hole (0.376s from Max Verstappen, 0.366s from Oscar Piastri, and 0.263s from Norris) within the first sector of the Jeddah circuit, as identified by Frederic Vasseur. However it’s also true that the highest 9 positions within the ultimate standings match precisely with the highest 9 positions within the first sector, essentially the most selective a part of the observe. That is the place the distinction must be made.
Charles Leclerc hoped for one thing extra, particularly after seeing Lando Norris’ McLaren crash into the limitations at flip 4, however in the long run, he needed to admit that realistically, going past fourth place was not potential. “I can’t be pleased with a fourth place, however I’m pleased with how I drove and the truth that I understood methods to extract the automobile’s potential,” he commented. “Sadly, in the mean time, that is the perfect we will obtain: we don’t have sufficient grip to enter some corners with the identical velocity as our rivals, we have to analyze this side.” The hope for the primary podium of the season continues to be alive, however the impression is that extra shall be wanted than what has been seen thus far. “Looking forward to tomorrow, I don’t count on miracles,” Leclerc commented, “but when we will get off to begin, a podium place may be inside our attain.”
The race tempo seen in Friday’s transient long-runs confirmed Ferrari because the third power (behind McLaren and Mercedes), however there is no such thing as a information on efficiency degradation, as nobody was capable of full greater than ten laps as a result of purple flag attributable to Yuki Tsunoda’s crash.
“It will likely be attention-grabbing to see what the race tempo shall be for each of our vehicles,” Frederic Vasseur emphasised. “Nobody has been capable of do actual lengthy runs thus far, however for the reason that begin of the season, we have now proven to be extra aggressive within the race than on a single lap. We must be able to seize each alternative the race will supply, as overtaking is feasible on this observe, and tonight we’ll deal with getting ready for all of the situations that would come up through the race.”
It could appear unusual, since we’re speaking about Hamilton, however the seventh-place end was a greater outcome than anticipated. After ending FP3 in twelfth place, making it to Q3 was removed from sure, then (with heavy respiratory) the aim was achieved, with seven thousandths of a bonus over Alexander Albon. “Contemplating how a lot we struggled in free apply, I’d say immediately was a decent qualifying,” Lewis commented. “Clearly, we’re not the place we need to be, however I felt extra snug within the automobile, and meaning we’re on the right track. My solely lap in Q3 wasn’t nice, however overtaking is feasible right here, so the aim for tomorrow is to make up floor.”
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