Charles Leclerc was downcast at the end of Friday practice in Melbourne despite setting the quickest time in the first of the day’s sessions.

The Ferrari driver said Mercedes’ pace over a longer run shows they will be difficult to beat in the season-opener.

“FP1 looked positive but then in FP2 I think the teams are showing little by little a bit more and unfortunately we seem to be on the back foot,” Leclerc told the official F1 channel. “Especially compared to the Mercedes, that seems to be very, very strong.

“I don’t think that they showed everything in low-fuel but on high-fuel it was very impressive. So that’s the first time, probably, that we see how much there is to them. It’s a bit more than what I would have liked, but it’s the way it is.

“On the other [hand], it’s been quite a positive start of the weekend and we’ll keep working very hard in order to try and maximise everything for tomorrow.”

However Leclerc said he wasn’t too concerned by his apparent loss of pace between the two sessions, when he fell to fifth in the times behind team mate Lewis Hamilton.

“I tried something in FP2 and it felt really, really strange and quite bad,” he explained. “It’s okay, we are still in the learning process of this car. I think we’ve had very good testing so we know more or less where to put it.

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“For FP2 I went a bit too aggressive in one direction and it didn’t pay off, but it was a good test. Then for the rest of the weekend it’s all about putting everything together in qualifying. I have the feeling that it can be quite close in the race. It seems that Mercedes has quite a bit of performance coming but we will see.”

Although Mercedes were not quickest in either session, Leclerc is not confident of beating them. “I wouldn’t say confident because I don’t know how much margin Mercedes still has so it’s a bit early to say. But I’ll say they are a bit more in front than what I would have wanted, for now.

“But we’ll work hard during the night. Again, I think this year is going to be about the development throughout the year and so wherever we start on Sunday and wherever we finish on Sunday is only a starting point and then we’ll have to build on that to try and catch up. And if we win on Sunday, then, amazing.”

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine