Leclerc expects tricky race: 'Red Bull seem very quick in race simulations'

The statistics are clear: the French Grand Prix has always been won from pole position since its return in 2018. Yet poleman Charles Leclerc does not expect to have an easy time during Sunday's race.

"I think it will be tricky, because yeah, the Red Bull guys seem to be very, very quick in the race simulations they've done yesterday. So we've worked a little bit on the car for the race", Leclerc says during the press conference after qualifying.

Leclerc owes his pole partly to teammate Carlos Sainz, who gave him a slipstream in Q3. The Spaniard will start from the last row on Sunday following his grid penalty, so Leclerc will have to defend against the Red Bull drivers on his own.

Ferrari take step forward

The hot temperatures at Paul Ricard make for high tyre degradation, something Ferrari coped well with in Austria. Whether that will be the case again this weekend remains to be seen, as Max Verstappen looked strong in the long runs.

"Hopefully, it will go better for us tomorrow. But tyre management will be a thing. We were good in Austria, we struggled a bit more yesterday, but I think we did a significant step up in performance since yesterday so hopefully we can show that tomorrow in the race," says the Ferrari driver.