Leclerc issues ominous Singapore warning to Norris

Charles Leclerc has issued an ominous warning ahead of what appears likely to be a Singapore Grand Prix qualifying shoot-out with Lando Norris.

The Ferrari and McLaren drivers were head and shoulders above their F1 rivals across both practice sessions, but more pertinently, the representative FP2 when conditions which those in qualifying will mirror.

Norris edged Leclerc by just 0.058s, with the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz best of the rest, albeit a remarkable six-tenths of a second adrift.

Leclerc, though, feels there remains plenty to find, feeding into Norris’ concerns that if the Monégasque was not happy with his lap in FP2, then he is “quite worried”.

Reflecting on his practice performance, Leclerc said: “It felt good but there is still some work to be done. The car didn’t exactly feel like I wanted so we still have to try and improve it.

“And, of course, the forecast for the weekend is still a little bit up and down so we’ll have to adapt very quickly.

“We cannot rely on a good Friday, but it’s been a good Friday, and it’s always better to have a good one than a bad one.

“It’s a good starting point but we still have to push forward.”

As to what is required that will make him happy, Leclerc said: “Just a bit more balance in the car, putting everything together in terms of driving, and then we should be in a good place for tomorrow.”

As a two-time polesitter at this track, Leclerc understatedly suggested he is “in the mix” to add a third but does not feel the gap he and Norris held over their rivals will be matched in qualifying.

“I just hope the picture doesn’t change much for tomorrow,” said Leclerc.

“I will be very surprised if we still have the same advantage as we had today, the same gap from me to the third place.

“I really believe everybody will be much closer tomorrow and it will be much tighter, and then we will have to understand whether it changes the pecking order or not.”