Ferrari admits Mercedes ‘a step ahead’ in qualifying as straight-line deficit cited

Both Ferrari drivers suggested the team has work to do to match Mercedes’ power unit, with Charles Leclerc acknowledging the championship leaders are “a step ahead in qualifying.”

Lewis Hamilton added that “it’s a lot of time to be losing” in a straight line in particular, with Leclerc estimating his time loss on the 1.2km back straight in SQ3 to have been around half a second.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton point to Ferrari power deficit to Mercedes

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Hamilton will line up for Saturday’s Sprint fourth on the grid, with Mercedes having locked out the front row and Lando Norris earning third in the session.

Leclerc will start sixth after qualifying around four tenths shy of his Ferrari teammate, and explained his issues with losing time in the final part of Sprint qualifying, and how Mercedes continued to improve.

“Very frustrating session,” Leclerc said after Sprint qualifying in China.

“Unfortunately, when I had the good lap, I lost half a second in the back straight for whatever reason on the second lap in SQ3. So we’ll analyse that and try to understand what has gone wrong.

“It doesn’t really change the picture from where we are. I think in the race we should be relatively a bit stronger than where we were now in qualifying. However, Mercedes seems to be still a step ahead in qualifying.

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“For some reason, the Mercedes power unit finds a lot of lap time. We don’t quite find that amount of lap time just yet in qualifying, but in a race, we are closer, so I’m hopeful we can come back tomorrow.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, was more upbeat after qualifying on the second row in China, though acknowledged the time loss Ferrari seems to hold in a straight line.

With that comes work required at the team’s factory to improve its output, with the seven-time World Champion admitting the team is “down on power” compared to his former employers.

That said, though, he finds the SF-26 a strong car to drive, which is competitive with the Mercedes away from straight lines.

“Really pleased with the session,” Hamilton said.

“My team did a really great job. My engineers did a fantastic job to turn the car around, because FP1 was a tricky session with that spin and the car generally felt great.

“It’s just I think we’re losing on the straights. It’s a lot of time to be losing. So, we have a lot of work to do.

“We really have to push so hard back in Maranello to improve on power.

“It was something that I think we were conscious of last year, that we thought that Mercedes started earlier than us, or the rest, which they did last time as well. So they’ve done a fantastic job, and we’ve got to step up. We’ve got to push to be able to close that gap.

“I think car-wise, the car feels great and I think we can compete with them through corners. But when you’re down on power, it’s just the way it is.”

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