Charles Leclerc on Ferrari's pace in Melbourne: "I don't think we could have fought with George."

Many things could have happened before the lights went out on the starting grid of the Australian Grand Prix. F1The reality was nothing short of exciting, especially for fans of Charles Leclerc and Team Ferrari. Despite having a smaller advantage than in Bahrain, the Reds outmaneuvered their rivals at the start, allowing the Monegasque driver to lead the opening laps of the race. A scenario that pleased the driver himself.

“It was a very tricky race. Nobody really knew what to expect at the start, whether it was the battles, energy levels, or management. It's even harder in the battles to defend, because you don't really know when the battery will cut out on the straights. So there are big differences in speed; it's a real challenge.” he analyzed to Jenson Button after the raceI was happy to come out on top in that battle, unfortunately it didn't last for the rest of the race, but the start of the Grand Prix was very enjoyable. Third place is a good result for us.

While seemingly satisfied with the initial scenario, Charles Leclerc harbored few illusions about the gap observed with the Mercedes Benz on the track. Perhaps slightly too critical of the actual speed of his Ferrari, the teammate of Lewis Hamilton However, they lacked success with the timing of their pit stops. With little optimization from the Scuderia and little help from the virtual safety cars, the drivers nevertheless delivered a solid race.

"The person in charge of turning off the lights was quite mischievous because, for the first start of the season with new cars, turning off the lights so quickly took us all by surprise! I think it helped us a little," he was rationalizing. I don't think we could have fought George for the win, but maybe I'm wrong. Mercedes seemed to have better pace than us today, but not with as big an advantage as in qualifying, which is a good thing.

A good omen for next week's Chinese Grand Prix, Ferrari's first appearance in this new era of F1 allows the tifosi to see one thing: the Scuderia remains for now the second force on the grid, not far from the silver leaders.

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