Charles Leclerc has offered Ferrari supporters a message of optimism after the Italian team were outpaced by McLaren’s Lando Norris in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

Leclerc, who had topped the timesheets in an earlier practice session, finished fourth in qualifying, placing behind both McLarens and Mercedes’ teenage world championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Speaking after the session, Leclerc said Ferrari struggled with tyre performance in the hot conditions.

“We struggled with tires today in the heat,” he said. “On mediums, we were working very well, but it was not such a nice feeling on the softs, so we have to look at that.”

He added that Ferrari’s race pace remains encouraging despite qualifying difficulties.

“We know that we’re stronger in race pace but we have work to do in qualifying,” Leclerc said. “I’m sure we have the pace to get back to the front in the race and we just have to see if we can find a way to overtake.”

Leclerc also noted the significant progress made by McLaren, highlighting their recent upgrades package.

“Our upgrades are fine, but it’s just that everybody has brought upgrades here,” he said.

“We kind of expected this situation where Mercedes is probably still the car to beat, but McLaren made a big step forward. I felt they did not optimize their car in the earlier races, but now they’ve got it together.”

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev