The opening day of action at the Australian Grand Prix may have seen McLaren top the timesheets, but Charles Leclerc believes another rival quietly stole the spotlight.
In the Ferrari driver’s eyes, Mercedes revealed more than just competitive speed during Friday practice at Albert Park Circuit – it showed the kind of pace that could shape the entire race weekend.
While home favourite Oscar Piastri led the way with a 1m19.729s lap, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli ended the day just two tenths behind. But for Leclerc, the real warning signs were buried in the longer runs rather than the headline lap times.
“I think Mercedes is slowly showing a bit more of what they have, and FP2 we are starting to see where we are lacking compared to them,” Leclerc said.
“They are clearly very strong, especially in terms of race pace. I don't know how much margin they still have on qualifying pace but in the race pace they seem to be very strong compared to us.”
Race Pace Raises Eyebrows
If Friday’s numbers are anything to go by, Mercedes could be quietly building a formidable race package.
Leclerc, who finished the day P5, over half a second away from Piastri after a couple of off-track moments, admitted the consistency of the Silver Arrows across longer stints caught his attention more than anything else.
“Race pace, they were very, very impressive,” he said.
The competitive picture remains blurred this early in the weekend – especially with teams often experimenting with different setups or fuel loads between drivers.
“In terms of qualifying pace, again, it's difficult to know how much more there is to come,” Leclerc continued.
“Oscar did a very impressive lap, but I don't know also what they are doing between the cars because maybe they might be testing different things between the cars, because Lando was quite far back.
“Again it's the first race of a completely new car, so lots of question marks – but on the long run I will say you have a bit of a better picture of what's going on in the performances of everybody so far.
“ I hope I'm wrong and that we are much faster tomorrow, but at the moment it seems to be Mercedes a step ahead and then Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves after.”
Ferrari Still Searching for Answers
Ironically, while Leclerc was studying the pace of the opposition, his own Friday running had already revealed plenty of work to be done inside Ferrari.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton ended the day closer to the front in fourth position, while Leclerc admitted a bold setup experiment on his car backfired during the second practice session.
©Ferrari
“I don't really focus on [Mercedes], we've got plenty of things to improve on our car,” Leclerc pointed out. “In FP2 I tried something quite aggressive which didn't work out, so I'll be back tomorrow into a more reasonable window and we'll see how it looks like.”
For Leclerc, the struggle is nothing new in Melbourne. The Monegasque openly acknowledged that Albert Park has rarely been a comfortable hunting ground for him – but that only fuels his determination.
Read also:
Australian GP: Piastri tops FP2 from Antonelli and Russell“There's still some work to do,” he admitted. “As I've always said, Melbourne and Shanghai are probably the two hardest tracks for me of the season, and I always struggle quite a bit, so it's a challenge.
“But it shouldn't be an excuse, and actually I enjoy that challenge, and I will work hard in order to turn that situation around tomorrow.”
If Friday’s running revealed anything, it’s that the competitive order remains wide open. But in Leclerc’s eyes, one message from the paddock is already crystal clear: Mercedes may no longer be hiding its hand.
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