F1 Japanese GP | Ferrari, Leclerc: "The power unit is our weak point."

Suzuka - Charles Leclerc conquers the second podium of the season: in Suzuka he is third behind the Mercedes Benz di Kimi Antonelli , McLaren di Oscar piastri.

The Monegasque immediately made his mark at the start, taking advantage of Mercedes' uncertainties to gain positions, but as the kilometers went by he re-established himself behind the Mercedes-powered cars. He returned to the pits just before the Safety Car, thus losing precious time compared to his opponents and finding himself in the exhausts of George Russell and teammate Lewis HamiltonLeclerc, however, was clearly faster and made the two most beautiful overtakes of the race, forcing his way past Russell on the outside at Turn 1 and then repeating the move with his teammate. Antonelli and Piastri, however, were unreachable, and Charles had to settle for the third step of the podium.

Leclerc: "Mercedes is ahead and McLaren has made a step forward."

“Today was a bit more difficult with the race pace, and McLaren made a step forward. I was happy to be second at the start. Then, obviously, I was focusing on Oscar, but Oscar was really strong, especially on the first lap. On the first lap, I was very surprised by how far he was able to get away, and yes, after that I just tried to stay as close as possible, but he had a bit more pace, and I also thought the clean air was making a big difference. I was just trying to wait for the later stages of the race, but it didn't happen.”

"The Safety Car was a bit unlucky for me, but these things happen: I tried to use this anger in another way, but I wasn't very confident. When the green flag came after the SC, my tyres were a bit used; with the hards it's difficult to get them up to temperature, but it wasn't so bad in the end. Mercedes is ahead and McLaren has made a step forward. It will be a championship won or lost with development; everyone at home is pushing like crazy, and Miami We'll have a practically new car like everyone else, it will be important to start off on the right foot. The power unit isn't everything, but we're struggling more than Mercedes, there's no doubt about it, but it's not just that."

Leclerc: "The fight with Russell was fun."

The fight with Russell was certainly one of the most exciting moments of the entire race: the two had been baiting each other since the beginning of the championship and didn't hold back even on the Japanese circuit.

“It was quite tight at times, and Mercedes were also quite clever because I think his engineer was telling him things over the radio,” Leclerc said post-race. “My engineer was telling me what his engineer was saying, but then George was doing the exact opposite, and that put me under pressure. At one point, I think they said to me, 'Oh, they told him to use full throttle on the opposite straight,' or vice versa, maybe on the main straight, and then for four laps in a row he did exactly the opposite. So I figured it out pretty quickly and was able to defend myself. But at one point, I got caught out in the last corner, and yeah… it was a fun race. Unfortunately, we were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car at the wrong time. I don't think it would have significantly changed our race, but it definitely made our second stint more difficult.”

Leclerc: "Changing the entire regulation? I'm not sure."

It is evident that the power unit Classic Ferrari for sale is still a few steps behind its opponent Brackley, but the team of Maranello He has a month to work on the car, and it's already time to take stock.

“Looking back over these first three races, there's one clear thing we need to improve, and that's definitely the power unit. Obviously, we can't bring anything back to Miami. But it's not just that, and in a year like this, everything is very new. I think every team's rate of improvement is enormous, so there's much more to the power unit alone,” Charles explained. “There's putting the tires in the right window, aerodynamics, the chassis... and we'll be working flat out on that to try to close the gap to the Mercedes as much as possible and, hopefully, keep the McLarens behind, and then we'll see. But yes, I think the power unit is perhaps our main weakness at the moment, but there are many other things that can definitely influence and help us close the gap in the meantime.”

“I mean, I think we definitely have to race differently with these cars, there's no doubt about that. And one of the critical points is moving or changing direction when you're in the middle of clipping Extreme, and that's what creates some pretty dangerous scenarios. Whether we have to change absolutely everything for the race, I don't know. I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks so... talking to the other drivers, I don't think I am, maybe we're split down the middle, but I actually like these cars for the racing duel aspect. I think there are definitely some tweaks to be made for qualifying to allow us to push these cars to the limit without having to think too much about energy. For the race, I think it also depends on us adjusting our racing style, our defense, taking into account that the speed differences can be more marked; and by this I'm probably referring more to the defenders than the attackers. I mean, even on my part, Australia There have been some pretty difficult moments with George. So yes, I think the situation will improve with time, but it's definitely difficult."