Charles Leclerc expects Scuderia Ferrari to be more competitive this weekend in the São Paulo Grand Prix than they were two weeks ago in Mexico City, as the Monegasque driver looks to regain second place in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Scuderia Ferrari team had a very below par weekend in Mexico, finishing well adrift of both Oracle Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, and Leclerc fell behind Sergio Pérez again in the Drivers’ Championship.
Leclerc feels Ferrari should be back showing the kind of pace they did in the United States Grand Prix this weekend and fighting at the front of the field rather than where they were in Mexico, and he hopes the sprint race format offers them the chance of maximising their points tally.
“I think we will be in the running, just as we were in Austin where, if it hadn’t been for a penalty because of a power unit change, we would have had an all Ferrari front row,” said Leclerc.
“I really like this system because it forces you to use a good dose of instinct when it comes to preparing for qualifying. This puts a premium on the team’s planning work at home and usually, over a single flying lap, the quality of the driver is even more to the fore than when you have three hours of free practice.
“It’s not like a street circuit, but the level of difficulty is really high. It’s an old style track with little room for error and it has some really exciting sections. The race can be really fun and usually there are some nice fights.
“I’d like to finish ahead of Checo (Perez) in the classification, but it’s more important to use these last two races as preparation for 2023. Having said that, if everything goes to plan, the results should be very good and probably we can get the positions we want. We will do our very best.”
“I expect that Mexico is destined to remain an isolated case” – Carlos Sainz Jr.
Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. is in agreement with Leclerc and hopes the performance the team showed during the Mexico City Grand Prix was a one-off.
Sainz ended sixth in Mexico behind Leclerc, and he says the altitude last time out did not help Ferrari’s power unit, and although the Brazilian event is also being held at a high altitude, it should not have the same kind of effect this weekend.
“I expect that Mexico is destined to remain an isolated case,” said Sainz. “Because in that race, our performance suffered from a combination of problems linked to balance and the way the power unit performed because of the altitude.
“We are expecting variable conditions and here, when it rains, the track characteristics change completely and it becomes even more treacherous.”
With Red Bull having already secured the Constructors’ Championship, Sainz says it is important for Ferrari to secure second place and remain ahead of Mercedes.
“This is an important goal, although clearly not as good as taking the title, but all year we have been either first or second, so it wouldn’t be good to end up third,” Sainz added.
Carlos Sainz Jr. says it is important to beat Mercedes to second in the Constructors’ Championship – Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre