‘We need to be careful’ – Leclerc warns against ‘high expectations’ at United States GP

Charles Leclerc revealed that Ferrari “need to be careful” despite topping the times in FP1 and FP2 at the United States Grand Prix, hinting that their upgrades aren’t as impactful as some may believe.

The Scuderia have made changes to key aerodynamic components including the floor, sidepod inlet and diffuser, which Lewis Hamilton predicted would only deliver “half a tenth” in performance during Thursday’s press conference.

Leclerc nevertheless managed to set the pace in the first two Free Practice sessions at the Circuit of The Americas, albeit by slim margins of 0.084s and 0.042s over Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli respectively.

The Monegasque was reluctant to get his hopes up for the rest of the weekend, as he explained: “The feeling is quite good but we need to be careful – obviously it’s only Friday.

“We are seeing what we expected but again, it’s definitely not what everybody thinks in terms of upgrade and lap time gained. It’s been a good day. I think the balance of the car was good and straightaway, we started in a good window. That paid off.

“Obviously all the hard work that has been done in order to bring this upgrade as soon as possible is also helping us a little bit, but we shouldn't carry too high expectations going into tomorrow. I feel like the others have more potential to unlock.

“Kimi and Max seem to be very strong. The McLaren, I don’t really know yet. I don’t think they put everything together, but Kimi and Max will definitely be up there.”

Although the gap between the top four teams has narrowed as the season has progressed, Ferrari haven’t won a race since Round 9 in Great Britain, and Team Principal Fred Vasseur was just as keen as Leclerc to remain realistic about their chances this weekend.

“It’s a good start, but I think once again it’s very tight,” he said. “I’m not sure that the classification of FP1 was always relevant for Qualifying.

“It means we have to be focused on ourselves to continue to work. We have a lot of things to learn on the car with the new package, and try to do a better job tomorrow.

“It’s a very early stage. For sure the impact [of the upgrades] is a bit less than at the beginning of the season. It means that we have to finetune everything and try to get the best for tomorrow.

“Let’s see Qualifying first because as soon as you’re in the dirty air, it’s more difficult. I think that we have five or six cars that can compete for pole tomorrow. It’s good for F1 and it’s good for us if we’re in front.”