Charles Leclerc admits McLaren looks untouchable in Baku despite Ferrari’s strong showing
“It was okay. I think there’s a lot more potential, especially coming from me. I didn’t do a great job today, but overall, we seem to be pretty strong, so it’s good,” said Leclerc after Friday’s practice sessions in Azerbaijan.
But he quickly added a major concern.
“There’s a big but – it looks like McLaren is in another world, literally, and I think people will be very surprised tomorrow because Lando didn’t finish some laps that were very, very impressive.”
The Ferrari driver ended the day in second place, just a hair behind teammate Carlos Sainz who topped the afternoon session with a time already faster than last year’s pole position.
Despite Ferrari securing the top two spots in FP2, Leclerc doesn’t believe they’ll be able to challenge for victory.
“I doubt we’ll be in the fight with them, but compared to the others, it seems that we are kind of in a good place.”
Ferrari has managed to put some decent distance between themselves and their other rivals, including Mercedes and Red Bull.
The morning session saw Leclerc finish third while Sainz was way down in thirteenth. But the Briton found his rhythm in the afternoon, jumping to the top of the timesheets.
Less than a tenth of a second separated the Ferrari teammates by day’s end.
“I don’t think there’s a battle for the win for now, but never say never,” Leclerc continued. “In 2021 and in many qualifying sessions here, I felt like it wasn’t possible and at the end we kind of made it, so I’ll keep my hopes high even though it looks unlikely.”
What makes Ferrari’s performance particularly interesting is that McLaren’s true pace remains somewhat hidden. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri couldn’t complete clean flying laps for various reasons.
If Leclerc’s observations about Norris’s potential pace are accurate, Saturday’s qualifying could deliver some real surprises.
