{"id":23881,"date":"2023-03-31T18:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/?p=23881"},"modified":"2023-03-31T17:47:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T16:47:32","slug":"charles-leclerc-drops-big-ferrari-claim-ahead-of-2023-australian-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/charles-leclerc-drops-big-ferrari-claim-ahead-of-2023-australian-gp\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Leclerc drops big Ferrari claim ahead of 2023 Australian GP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A disappointing end to the 2022 season that saw his World Drivers’ Championship pursuit fall apart has carried over into an underwhelming start to 2023 for Ferrari, but Charles Leclerc believes the team put together their best Friday session yet ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After appearing to be neck and neck with Red Bull for at least the first half of last season, 2023 has been dominated by the Milton Keynes-based team so far with Ferrari struggling to find any true race pace, while also not getting the most out of their sessions earlier on in the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their struggles have allowed Red Bull to dominate early on, despite flashes of brilliance from Aston Martin who have seemingly jumped ahead of the Prancing Horse for the time being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leclerc has complained about the issue on previous occasions, but was positive off the back of a chaotic FP1 at Albert Park and believes Ferrari are well equipped for the rest of the weekend, having managed to finish second-fastest in FP2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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READ: Aston Martin reveal why they didn\u2019t want Sebastian Vettel to replace Lance Stroll<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Formula1.com after the first two sessions, he explained: “I feel like the feeling is a bit better than the other races, so that is positive. It is probably our most positive FP2 of the season, which doesn\u2019t mean much, but at least it is a Friday that finishes on a positive note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Now we need to work, do another step in the right direction tomorrow and hopefully we will be a bit closer to the Red Bulls tomorrow [in qualifying], and especially [during the race].”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leclerc did not finish the season opener at Bahrain before finishing P7 in a disappointing weekend in Jeddah at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with both Ferrari drivers still trying to find their feet with the SF-23, under the leadership of new team principal Frederic Vasseur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carlos Sainz has similarly struggled like his Monegasque teammate, but was also cautiously optimistic off the back of his first two sessions in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Obviously practice is practice, but we did use that FP1 to try some very different things on the car to see if we can find a bit of performance for the package that we have now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spaniard continued, claiming that the team better understood what they were working with as well as unearthing things that could be beneficial in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Max #Verstappen<\/a> revelation explains why he couldn\u2019t match Sergio Perez https:\/\/t.co\/Gx0PrkxYSG<\/a><\/p>— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 30, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>