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 workforce’s expectations, however the much less optimistic information for the Scuderia is that three completely different groups, Purple Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes, are forward.
“The margins are decreased,” says Frederic Vasseur each time, 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 is usually 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 boundaries at flip 4, however in the long run, he needed to admit that realistically, going past fourth place was not attainable. “I can’t be pleased with a fourth place, however I’m pleased with how I drove and the truth that I understood extract the automobile’s potential,” he commented. “Sadly, in the meanwhile, that is one of the best we are able to obtain: we don’t have sufficient grip to enter some corners with the identical pace as our rivals, we have to analyze this facet.” The hope for the primary podium of the season remains to be alive, however the impression is that extra can be wanted than what has been seen to date. “Waiting for tomorrow, I don’t count on miracles,” Leclerc commented, “but when we are able to get off to a superb 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 knowledge on efficiency degradation, as nobody was capable of full greater than ten laps because of the pink flag brought on by Yuki Tsunoda’s crash.
“It will likely be fascinating to see what the race tempo can be for each of our automobiles,” Frederic Vasseur emphasised. “Nobody has been capable of do actual lengthy runs to date, however for the reason that begin of the season, now we have proven to be extra aggressive within the race than on a single lap. We must be able to seize each alternative the race will provide, as overtaking is feasible on this observe, and tonight we are going to concentrate on getting ready for all of the eventualities that might come up in the course of the race.”
It could appear unusual, since we’re speaking about Hamilton, however the seventh-place end was a greater end result than anticipated. After ending FP3 in twelfth place, making it to Q3 was removed from sure, then (with heavy respiration) the objective was achieved, with seven thousandths of a bonus over Alexander Albon. “Contemplating how a lot we struggled in free follow, I’d say at the moment was a decent qualifying,” Lewis commented. “Clearly, we’re not the place we wish to be, however I felt extra comfy within the automobile, and meaning we’re on course. My solely lap in Q3 wasn’t nice, however overtaking is feasible right here, so the objective for tomorrow is to make up floor.”
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