A Ferrari in the second row at Monza
The Monza qualifying saw a Mercedes engine hat-trick at the front, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine ahead of George Russell of the Silver Arrows and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. The latter was however penalized for impeding, allowing the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton to gain a position and start from the second row.
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Leclerc does not want to dream
Starting from third and fourth place, interesting scenarios could open up for Ferrari, but Charles Leclerc does not want to create too many illusions for the fans: “I expect that in the race we could be stronger, but we will have difficulties on the straights and this will make us very vulnerable compared to the others. We will be fast in the corners and hopefully this can help us stay with them.”
The engine handicap
Leclerc then gave journalists in the mixed zone an interesting analysis of the obvious deficit of the Ferrari engine, despite being equipped with the ADUO upgrade at Monza: “There are straights where we have to choose not to push to the maximum. But Mercedes pushes to the maximum precisely on the straights where we cannot do so. Inevitably, there will be a big difference on some straights. We will see if we can perform some miracle, surprising them in some other area.”
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Leclerc then hinted that it is the Mercedes internal combustion engine that leaves him amazed (despite FIA measurements): “It becomes a vicious circle. As soon as you have much more power, you start delivering it later on corner exit because the power unit gives you more power on corner exit. I would bet that their ICE (internal combustion engine, ed.) is significantly superior“.
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