Leclerc ‘didn’t’ expect better times from Ferrari

Charles Leclerc wasn’t expecting Ferrari to set the timesheets alight in pre-season testing after the Scuderia changed its approach to testing.

Last year Ferrari won the winter World Championship as it was dubbed, fastest of all in pre-season testing.

However, once the season was underway, they quickly realised they were not the team to beat.

Ferrari didn’t win a single grand prix under Leclerc’s victory at the Belgian GP immediately after the summer break.

This year Ferrari opted for a different approach to testing.

Focusing on reliability and understanding the car ahead of lap times, Ferrari was only fourth quickest of all the teams.

“No, I didn’t,” Leclerc told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he was expecting better times from Ferrari.

“Last year we started strong we believed we had a great car and then at the first race we understood how things really were.

“This season the approach have been different, we focused on ourselves but we know that Mercedes and Red Bull are really good.

“What we did this year will help us grow and know better the car and be ready for Melbourne.”

However, where Ferrari will be this year in Melbourne is anyone’s guess.

“It’s hard to tell, everybody does something different in the winter tests,” Leclerc said.

“We don’t know how much they really push, how much fuel they had on board. We are happy about the job we did and learned a lot of things.

“On the difference between us and the other team we will have to wait for Melbourne.”

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