The Monegasque Ferrari driver was 1.0 seconds slower than Max Verstappen and the Red Bull RB19 on soft rubber on his first lap in the third quarter of the Abu Dhabi GP qualifying test. But on his second attempt with the fresh set of the same tires he came within one and a half tenths of a second of the Dutchman and secured second place at the start of the 22nd Formula 1 GP this year – an achievement he described as “… ” called “Good Surprise”.

However, this drop in performance of the Ferrari SF-23 with the rubber used may not bode well for Ferrari’s performance as the tires wear over the laps throughout today’s race. And the 25-year-old hopes that the use of – mainly – medium and hard rubber in the GP won’t come to that.

“The Our car shows many extremes”explained the Monegasque. “With the used tire I was basically behind everyone. Then you put the fresh tires on and suddenly the car is great again and feels much better. We made an insane profit from used to virgin rubber, much more than anyone else.

I hope this isn’t a negative sign for the race, we have to do long laps but I’m sure we’ll do a good job.”, added Leclerc. And to elaborate, he added: “It’s very, very strange. In the third test everything felt good, but we were slow. It is difficult for the driver to locate where it is [το πρόβλημα]because you simply don’t have enough traction to go faster.

This confirmed to us throughout the year that we always had an extreme car. When we enter the right window [λειτουργίας του] everything is perfect. If we step outside this window, even just a little, the impact is enormous. And these three days are exactly what happens.

Still, I’m happy considering how hard we worked in the first and third tests [του Άμπου Ντάμπι], it’s a good surprise. I hope we will do well in the race. That’s the goal: win [τη Mercedes] in the constructors’ championship. And I hope that Carlos also has a good start and gets closer to us in the fight.”concluded Charles Leclerc.

For Mercedes, the consistency of the W14’s performance isn’t much better. George Russell, who will start today from 4th place, explained: “I also felt good in the car in the morning [του Σαββάτου] We looked pretty strong – and we thought maybe pole position was possible. But we went out Q1 and we just didn’t have the same traction as we used to.”

And Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q2 for the second time in a row (so will start 11th today), added that W14 takes place in Abu Dhabi “More volatile [σε απόδοση] than it ever was. Its power rises and falls from corner to corner, from the moment you brake to the moment you turn and the moment you reach the corner apex of the output. She’s too unbalanced and it’s hard to predict what she’ll do.said the disappointed Brit.