Leclerc insists Ferrari upgrade 'definitely not what you think'

Charles Leclerc topped both Friday practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas, but refused to read too much into the results.

The Monegasque warned that Ferrari’s latest package may not deliver in qualifying or on race day the leap in performance some expect.

Ferrari brought aerodynamic revisions to its floor, sidepod inlet and diffuser. Leclerc led FP1 by 0.084s over Max Verstappen and FP2 by 0.042s over Kimi Antonelli, but stressed that a good start was no guarantee of a competitive weekend.

Fastest, but far from complacent

Leclerc said Ferrari had benefited from finding a productive setup window early, while cautioning against mistaking the upgrade for a dramatic transformation.

“The feeling is quite good but we need to be careful – obviously it’s only Friday,” he explained.

“We are seeing what we expected but again, it’s definitely not what everybody thinks in terms of upgrade and lap time gained. It’s been a good day.

“I think the balance of the car was good and straightaway, we started in a good window. That paid off.

“Obviously all the hard work that has been done in order to bring this upgrade as soon as possible is also helping us a little bit, but we shouldn't carry too high expectations going into tomorrow. I feel like the others have more potential to unlock.

“Kimi and Max seem to be very strong. The McLaren, I don’t really know yet. I don’t think they put everything together, but Kimi and Max will definitely be up there.”

Ferrari have not won since the British Grand Prix in round nine, and Friday’s double does not mean rivals have shown their full hand. Lewis Hamilton had suggested the new parts might deliver only “half a tenth”.

Vasseur urges Ferrari to keep working

Team principal Fred Vasseur also played down the significance of the timesheets, highlighting how much Ferrari still needs to learn about its revised car.

“It’s a good start, but I think once again it’s very tight,” he said. “I’m not sure that the classification of FP1 was always relevant for Qualifying.

“It means we have to be focused on ourselves to continue to work. We have a lot of things to learn on the car with the new package, and try to do a better job tomorrow.

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“It’s a very early stage. For sure the impact [of the upgrades] is a bit less than at the beginning of the season. It means that we have to finetune everything and try to get the best for tomorrow.

“Let’s see Qualifying first because as soon as you’re in the dirty air, it’s more difficult. I think that we have five or six cars that can compete for pole tomorrow. It’s good for F1 and it’s good for us if we’re in front.”

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