
Ferrari drivers admit CONCERNS about rivals after chastening day
Ferrari drivers admit CONCERNS about rivals after chastening day

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have admitted that their car is third behind Red Bull and McLaren in Suzuka after qualifying, but insisted that they aim to compete with the latter in the race.
Ferrari arrived in Japan with hopes of replicating their strong performance in Singapore, where Sainz secured a fantastic victory, taking advantage of McLaren and Mercedes after Red Bull's sudden downturn at Marina Bay.
However, Red Bull bounced back in Japan, and Ferrari were also beaten by McLaren. While Piastri and Norris finished second and third in qualifying, Leclerc and Sainz could only manage fourth and sixth respectively.
Leclerc admitted his surprise at even being close to the papaya cars though, saying: “I definitely did not expect to be that close to the McLaren.

"We did not expect to beat them. For some reason they found something in sector one from yesterday. They did a huge step forward, since FP3, we knew that we didn’t really have that in the car. It was quite difficult then, to come back in sector two and three."
He added: "Also, they had a really good management of qualifying. They did two very good laps. They had one more set of soft for Q3, and I think that we lost a little bit there too. All in all, honestly, my lap in Q3, I don’t think there was much more there. I don’t regret any choices we’ve made."
However, he insisted that McLaren and Ferrari will be very evenly matched on Sunday and that either team could come out on top, so he's hoping to gain positions at the start.
“It’s going to be tricky because I think our race pace is not too dissimilar to one of the McLarens," said the Monegasque. "If we pass them at the start, I think it will be difficult for them to pass us on track. If we don’t then I think it will be difficult for us to pass them on track."
READ MORE: F1 Qualifying Results – Japanese Grand Prix 2023 times as Verstappen thwarts McLaren charge in Q3
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F1 Standings

Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
-
Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2023
-
Grand Prix of China 2023
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
-
Miami Grand Prix 2023
-
Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
-
Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
-
AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2023
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2023
-
Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
-
Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2023
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2023
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2023
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
-
Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
-
Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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