Leclerc notes difference with Red Bull: 'They did that very differently to us'

Charles Leclerc fell just short of taking pole position at the expense of Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver tells Viaplay where he may have lost just that little bit of time to set the fastest time.

"I lost a little bit in the last chicane," Leclerc began his story. "Not because of a mistake, but in all my laps struggling with the rear tyres. They were overheating for some reason." According to the Ferrari driver, it is something his team needs to analyse properly.

The Monegasque is not sure where he lost out to Verstappen, but he did notice that Red Bull Racing handled the out lap very differently from Ferrari. "Red Bull was doing something completely different to us on the out lap, being very very slow, we were very fast. Whether we paid a price towards the end of the lap I don't know, but yeah, the last chicane wasn't our favourite corner today."

In normal circumstances, Leclerc does not expect Ferrari to take victory on Sunday. "Red Bull is normally doing a step from the Saturday to the Sunday. If they do so tomorrow then it might be tricky for us. If they don't then it will definitely be close," concluded Leclerc, who predicts a tricky race anyway given the unpredictable weather conditions.