Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did not at all believe that Red Bull showed their hand during the first two practice sessions ahead of the French Grand Prix this weekend.
Leclerc topped FP1 ahead of Verstappen in Le Castellet, before finishing second to team-mate Carlos Sainz in the second hour as the Scuderia took a clean sweep on Friday.
Leclerc was pleased with his day’s running, but felt as though Red Bull were keeping something in their back pockets heading into qualifying.
“It was a good Friday, but we still have to work on the car a little bit for tomorrow,” he told Sky Sports.
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“It’s very difficult to understand because it felt like Red Bull is doing something different to us on Friday, but we’re focusing on ourselves.
“The feeling is good, so we just need to put everything together and the pace is in the car.”
Verstappen indicated after FP2 that Red Bull had been experimenting with the car after the Dutchman had finished second and third respectively in Friday’s two sessions.
Sergio Perez could only manage sixth and then tenth, leading to suspicion that there is plenty more to come from the Milton Keynes-based side.
However, Leclerc is not taking his eyes off the task at hand, which is ensuring that he and Ferrari are fully prepared for qualifying and the race.
“Max seems to be particularly quick today on the high fuel so I don’t know how much fuel they were running, that is a big question mark, let’s see tomorrow,” he explained.
“I believe the pace [is] in the car, we just need to focus on ourselves and if we do that perfectly then we will be fighting for the win.”
Leclerc claimed his third win of the season last time out in Austria, reclaiming second in the championship from Perez and moving back to within 40 points of leader Verstappen.