Charles Leclerc to start 'snowball fight' to topple Mercedes

Charles Leclerc is looking to a “snowball effect” fight against Mercedes on Sunday as Ferrari looks to interrupt the Brackley-based squad's strong run of form.

Mercedes secured another front-row lockout on Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli taking his first career pole position.

With team-mate George Russell alongside him on the front row, the duo will be keeping a close eye on the Ferrari pair behind, who have proven to be fast-launching off the starting grid.

Having used this advantage to compete at the front at the opening grand prix in Australia and again in the Shanghai sprint race, Leclerc is hoping for a similar picture to unfold on Sunday.

“They [Mercedes] are very strong, for sure,” Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. “They've got this pace advantage at the moment, which is about three or four-tenths in the high fuel.

“[But] especially at the start of the race, we seem to be a bit more flexible with where we want to deploy, etc.

“They seem to struggle a little bit. And also the fact that when you start a fight, you lose so much with batteries, it's kind of a snowball effect and we manage to slow them down and stay in the fight. 

“Hopefully that's the case tomorrow, because that makes the race is quite exciting - probably from outside - but also from inside the cockpit, it's actually quite nice.”

Leclerc 'satisfied' despite major struggles

Leclerc's run to the second row came despite significant struggles with the car throughout the weekend.

 Despite being out-paced by his team-mate, the Monegasque driver insisted he was satisfied with the outcome. 

“It's very rare for me to say I'm happy when I'm P4, but honestly, this track is by far... I'm just struggling so much on this track,” he said.

“I don't know why. I've tried everything. I've tried different setups. I've tried different driving. 

“So at the end of the day, I'm happy with my lap. P4 is not great, but I don't think there was much in it either. 

“I'm the most satisfied I can be with a P4, let's say.”