F1 News
Leclerc: Ferrari's pace in Monaco was similar to Mercedes'
Bobby Vincent
Charles Leclerc has claimed Ferrari's speed at the Monaco Grand Prix was "similar" to Mercedes' pace, despite the champions winning its sixth successive race this season.
Leclerc was fastest for Ferrari in FP3 on Saturday but a strategy error on the Italian team's behalf left the Monaco-born driver in P15 at the start of his home grand prix.
The 21-year-old then tried making his way up the grid - in desperate fashion - only to collide with Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, leaving Leclerc with a puncture to his right rear tyre.
Leclerc was then forced to retire from the Monaco GP early on, with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel breaking Mercedes' run of five consecutive one-two finishes in this 2019 F1 season.
The Ferrari driver was asked how close he would have been to Mercedes, if he would've qualified further up the grid: "I think in terms of pace, we have shown that we were quite quick, especially in FP3.
"Also, I think it's always difficult to say (where we would have been) because at the end, we didn't start where we wanted to start and we didn't end up where we wanted to end up. But if you look at the rest of the weekend, I think our pace was similar."
