© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
After Australian Grand Prix FP1&2, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said he believes „Mercedes is slowly showing a bit more of what they have”.
Even before 2026 pre-season testing started, there has been a lot of talk of Mercedes as title favourites.
Well, after Australian Grand Prix Free Practice 1 and 2, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also believes Mercedes has the dominant package right now.
“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.”
He especially believes Mercedes is strong on long runs.
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“Race pace, they were very, very impressive. 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.
“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,” Leclerc concluded.
