Charles Leclerc issues 'step ahead' warning of F1 rival

Charles Leclerc has labelled Mercedes as being a "step ahead" of the rest of the competition following Friday practice for the Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes did not top the timesheet in either practice session on Friday, with Leclerc leading the way before Oscar Piastri lowered the benchmark during FP2.

However, the Monégasque driver pointed to Mercedes' long run pace around Albert Park as an indication that it is the team to beat.

"FP1 was good, FP2... Mercedes is slowly showing a bit more of what they have, and we are starting to see where we are lacking compared to them," Leclerc told the media, including RacingNews365.

"I think they are clearly very strong, especially in terms of race pace. I don't know how much margin they still have on qualifying pace, but in the race pace, they seem to be very strong compared to us."

Leclerc issues F1 pecking order prediction

Whilst Piastri was strong in the second practice session, it was a tougher showing for former champion Lando Norris in the second McLaren.

Leclerc has suggested the pair may have had split programmes across their cars.

"Oscar did a very impressive lap, but I don't know what they are doing between the cars,” he said. "Maybe they might be testing different things between the cars, because Lando was quite far back."

Saturday's qualifying session will give the first true indication of the F1 pecking order at this stage of the season.

However, Leclerc holds suspicions that it's Mercedes that holds the advantage.

"It's the first race of a completely new car, so lots of question marks," he said. "But on the long run, you have a bit of a better picture of what's going on in the performances of everybody so far.

"I hope I'm wrong and that we are much faster tomorrow. But at the moment, it seems to be Mercedes a step ahead, and then Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves after."