Leclerc underlines Ferrari saving grace after ‘difficult’ admission

Charles Leclerc has shared optimism for the Mexico City Grand Prix, despite struggling in qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The 27-year-old will line up fourth, behind Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and his team-mate, Carlos Sainz, who took pole position.

During Q3, Leclerc was visibly on the limit, sliding his Ferrari through the middle sector, something that will no doubt have lost him valuable time.

Explaining that his final lap was unfolding well, the seven-time grand prix winner pointed out he “had to take those risks because I just didn’t have the pace” in his SF-24.

When asked what his a car was lacking, Leclerc outlined a number of reasons, whilst conceding he often struggles in low-grip qualifying conditions.

Crucially, however, he also identified a key factor that could prove to be a saving grace for his weekend.

“Just grip and the feeling [of the car],” the Monegasque driver told media including RacingNews365. “Sometimes you like the balance, today, I don’t, in practice I didn’t either. I think it’s probably not one of my strength, qualifying in very low grip tracks.

“I tend to push quite a lot in qualifying and in Monza and here I always struggle quite a lot with that.

“The only thing that gives me some optimism is that I think I was the fastest guy in race simulations… but starting from fourth, I’m making my life more difficult.”

However, despite remaining hopeful for a stronger race, Leclerc does not necessarily think the Mexico City Grand Prix will be a repeat of last weekend, at the Circuit of the Americas.

Having locked-out the second-row of the grid, Ferrari secured a first one-two finish on United States soil since 2006, with its two drivers comfortably having the measure on the opposition.

When asked if it was prove to be the same scenario, Leclerc disagreed, replying: “I don’t know, because McLaren has gained a lot of pace compared to practice.

“Max [Verstappen] obviously didn’t run a lot yesterday, so it’s difficult to compare – we don’t know about Max’s race pace.

“We are quite confident that our car could have a good pace in the race. However, it’s a different scenario compared to Austin, where it is very easy to overtake.

“Here in Mexico, there’s a lot of overheating for the engines, for everything and whenever you are P4, then you’ve got to manage all these things, and it makes it a lot more difficult to come back.

“But we’ll try our best, and if we do a good start like last week, then everything is possible.”