Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes’ “very strong” race pace means it is unlikely that Ferrari will be able to mount a challenge at the French Grand Prix.
Ferrari has yet to take a victory in 2019 and at Paul Ricard has been substantially adrift of Mercedes.
Mercedes took a 1-2 in each practice session and comfortably led qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton beating Valtteri Bottas to pole position.
Leclerc will start from third spot, albeit having lapped six-tenths slower than Hamilton in Q3.
“It’s going to be difficult because their race pace on Friday was very, very, very strong,” said Leclerc on the notion of Ferrari fighting Mercedes.
“I think a good start will be very important, and then we’ll see what happens.
“But obviously if I’m in front at the start, then it will be easier, but it’s not going to be easy.”
Leclerc spoke in the aftermath of qualifying in Canada that he needed to work on his Q3 displays, having often dropped away from the fight.
The youngster reckons he is making progress in that department in the wake of his display in France.
“I was completely aware that my weak points in the last few grands prix was putting my car in the right window in Q3, so I really worked hard for that, and I was very happy to see that there were improvements this weekend on that,” he said.
“My Q3 lap felt good. The wind was quite different between Q2 and Q3, so it was quite tricky and I lost quite a bit of time in Turn 8, 9, but overall apart from that, I think it was a good lap and the car felt good for the right moment, which is in Q3.
“On that I’m very happy. The gap is still quite big, so we need to work, and hopefully tomorrow it will be an exciting race.”
