Charles Leclerc has dismissed Isack Hadjar's claim that Max Verstappen would have won the Singapore Grand Prix by a bigger margin in a Ferrari. Speaking on the US GP media day, the Ferrari driver called the idea "nonsense" and said nobody outside a team can judge another team's car.
Finishing P2 at Marina Bay, 7.3 seconds behind Verstappen, the Monegasque driver responded to Hadjar's claims that the RB22 was not the quickest car in Singapore. "I think the car is still very hard to drive," the Frenchman said.
"In Malaysia, it was dominant, but I don't think in Singapore, it was the fastest car. That's what I believe. I think if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race with more margin. So that's my opinion. In Singapore, I think it was the fastest car."
Leclerc: 'I have no idea what kind of car he drives'
Photo: Race Pictures
When the comments were put to him on Thursday, Leclerc made it clear he did not think one driver can rank another team's car. He said both sides know just as little about each other.
"Well, first of all, I think it's nonsense to start saying these kinds of things. Isack has no idea what kind of car we drive, and I have no idea what kind of car he drives.
With a view to this weekend's US GP, Leclerc went on to say the pecking order is currently too close for anyone to call with confidence. The 29-year-old explained that the outcome at each track comes down to how well a team can extract the maximum out of its package.
"I think it's such a tight field that it's very, very difficult for us to predict, Leclerc Yes, of course, we have an idea of how we will be on this track, but when you are speaking about such fine margins, it relies really on optimising your package, and that has a much bigger influence than what we expect in terms of cars."
Leclerc names Mercedes as the only outlier
Leclerc did single out one team. He said Mercedes had not yet shown the pace Ferrari expected from them in recent races after bringing a major upgrade at the Bahrain GP in Malaysia. Leclerc believes if they find it, they could move clear of everyone else.
"I think the only outlier in the last few races is maybe Mercedes, that we expected to be further ahead than they actually were. If they manage to finally unlock the performance that we had in mind for them in the last few races, then they will be further ahead than any others. But otherwise, it's going to be very tight."