Gap to Verstappen smaller than Leclerc and Russell expected

Charles Leclerc says the gap to Max Verstappen is smaller than he expected after setting the fastest time in qualifying but only ending up second at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen took pole position with the best lap in Q3, but Leclerc was the only driver not to improve in the final part of qualifying, and his Q2 effort was quicker than Verstappen’s pole lap. The Ferrari driver found the result bittersweet given the potential in his car, but is focused on what it says about the performance comparison with Verstappen. “We could have done lots of things, but at the end we are P2 and three-tenths off,” Leclerc said in the media conference for the top three qualifiers. “I think it’s closer than what it looks on the timesheets, but this is a good thing. We were expecting Red Bull to have a bit more margin than what there was today, so we are a bit closer than what we thought. But the biggest question mark is obviously tomorrow in the race. I’m pretty sure they have a bit more margin than what we’ve seen today. But again, let’s wait and see. “I think it is pretty in line with what we expected, and if anything it is a bit better than what we expected because, again, there was 0.2s or 0.3s in Q3 we could have found realistically in the car.” George Russell qualified third — 0.3s off Verstappen — but is less optimistic about the chasing pack’s chances in race trim. “I agree with Charles — I think it was better than expected,” Russell said. “I think we all knew it was going to be very close between ourselves, Ferrari, Aston, McLaren and Checo , and I think the gap in qualifying today was probably slightly closer to Max than we expected. “I think race pace is the important one and we are expecting probably 0.5s deficit — that’s what we thought after testing, but we’ll see tomorrow.” With Verstappen raising his eyebrows at the claim, Russell asked the Dutchman: “You don’t agree?” MV: “Half a second?!” GR: “Is that too small?” MV: “No, I think it’s way too big. But if you say that now then it is better tomorrow.” GR: “Underpromise and overdeliver…”