Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc reckons “probably nobody in the paddock has the same knowledge of their car” as his team ahead of the 2022 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Mercedes and Red Bull brought notable upgrades to their 2022 cars to the second pre-season test in Bahrain last week, whereas Ferrari’s F1-75 was kept broadly the same.
Tweaks were evident on the floor and front wing but nothing to the scale of the sidepod overhaul on the W13 at the start of the second test or the evolution Red Bull revealed on the final day.
Leclerc said: “Only the first race will tell us whether our approach was the best one but I feel confident because I feel like the knowledge that we have of our car probably nobody in the paddock has the same knowledge of their car because they’ve been changing it.
“But on the other hand, obviously Red Bull did a massive step in the last day with the new upgrades.
“I was pretty surprised to see the Mercedes at the beginning of testing here in Bahrain, very, very different concepts to everyone.
“Even though all the concepts are quite different, they were quite extreme.
“So it’s going to be definitely very interesting to see here in qualifying which one works better.
“But I’m happy with our approach and the fact that we know our car very, very well already.”
Leclerc’s confidence was echoed by team-mate Carlos Sainz, who believes the approach helped Ferrari maximise the track time available testing.
Ferrari completed the most mileage of any team across the two weeks in Spain and Bahrain.
“We brought the car from Barcelona, we put it here on track and we kept trying to solve the problems that we have with the bouncing and make it quicker,” said Sainz.
“And I think as a racing driver it also helps to keep the car constant, you don’t have to do aero runs or aero mappings or strange things like that.
“For the team it’s always good but for the drivers you always feel like you’re losing time to understand the car.
“We managed to focus on set-up development, more performance items to test to see if we could put the car a bit in a happier window, a happier sweet spot.
“I think it’s helped us as drivers. I haven’t done any performance runs, putting the car on the limit yet but I’ve done a lot of long runs and all that sort of stuff that for sure will help me to understand the car better.”
‘RED BULL THE FAVOURITE’
Ferrari looks well prepared heading into the new season and was singled out by several teams as impressive during the test.
However, it has been key to play that down.
Asked who is the favourite for the season opener, Leclerc said: “Red Bull are for what they’ve shown. But I also think that Mercedes didn’t show all their potential.
“They’ve done a few laps here and there that were good once they were putting everything together. But they didn’t really put anything together to be honest.
“There’s a lot more to come from Mercedes too. I think they will still be the two teams to beat this year.”
Red Bull and world champion Max Verstappen set the pace in testing with Ferrari third fastest, behind Haas.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto hopes the team can be “outsiders” in the world championship fight but Leclerc – who won two grands prix when Ferrari was last in the lead fight in 2019 – joked he is “maybe a bit more pessimistic”.
“I feel we are still a bit behind Red Bull,” he said.
“I don’t think we are speaking about a second like it was last year or even more the year before. So I feel it’s going to be closer for sure. And this is already a good sign.
“But I still think they are the favourites and so we need to work out as much as we can tomorrow to try and maximise the day and be as ready as possible for Saturday.
“Hopefully we’ll be fighting for the win. But I still see ourselves a bit behind Red Bull for now.”
Sainz said he is refusing to get carried away with any external post-testing assumptions.
Asked if he arrived with the hope Ferrari could win this weekend, Sainz said: “Not really because you still don’t want to believe it completely.
“In your mind you want to come in here ready to fight for a win because as a driver you want to be ready but also not trying to believe too much the hype around us and whatever we think we are.
“I’m ready for whatever comes because I’ve been preparing myself obviously for this weekend for a while.
“But maybe a bit more after FP1, FP2, FP3 I start putting my expectations somewhere higher or lower.”
Leclerc is at least enjoying the positive headlines Ferrari’s test has triggered after two years spent less competitive following its massive decline in form in 2020.
He said he views the expectations Ferrari could be in front as a “positive thing” rather than “extra pressure”.
“It’s a good sign if people expect us to be fighting at the front,” said Leclerc.
“It means that we’ve been doing something right and what we’ve shown with testing even though it’s only testing was enough to make people think that we are in front.
“We don’t get carried away for now. It’s only testing. But it’s good to have these headlines back because in the last two years, it didn’t happen much!”
