Charles Leclerc is optimistic that the hotter conditions at the Singapore Grand Prix will play into Ferrari's hands, after struggling relative to Mercedes in Baku.
The Scuderia finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in eighth and ninth place, respectively, with the Monegasque driver crossing the line just behind Lewis Hamilton after confusion over whether the seven-time F1 drivers' champion would hand his position back to his team-mate.
Nonetheless, it was an underwhelming result for the Italian team after both its drivers showed promising pace across the early part of the weekend.
A poor qualifying session left both on the back foot, and neither recovered during the race. However, with F1 heading to the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the SF-25 is expected to be more competitive.
Currently third in the F1 constructors' standings, the Maranello-based squad fell behind Mercedes in Baku and now trails the silver arrows by four points with seven rounds remaining.
George Russell overcame illness to finish second, whilst a resurgent Kimi Antonelli came home in fourth. As for Red Bull, which is the third team vying for the runner-up spot behind McLaren, it was another strong weekend.
Max Verstappen claimed his fourth victory of the campaign, and Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed his best weekend since being promoted from Racing Bulls earlier this year, finishing sixth.
Ferrari is the only team in the top four yet to score a grand prix victory this season, but Leclerc can see reason to be hopeful in Singapore.
When asked by media, including RacingNews365, if he was looking forward to the weekend under the lights in the Southeast Asian city state, the eight-time grand prix winner replied: "[There will be] warmer conditions, this for sure.
"I think our car is struggling quite a bit whenever it's cold, and we have seen that the Mercedes is performing very, very strongly whenever it's cold.
"[In Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying], it was one of the only cars that could actually make the medium [tyre] work in Q3, together with Williams, actually.
"Both cars are very strong in cold conditions; we are stronger in hot conditions. I hope Singapore will give us that."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look ahead to this weekend's Singapore GP! The trio start with a discussion about Max Verstappen's Nordschleife heroics, before turning their attention to the make-or-break Marina Bay Circuit.
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