Leclerc, Sainz in agreement over Ferrari chance of upset US F1 win

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz agree that the Scuderia can take the fight for United States Grand Prix victory to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

The Ferrari pair will share the second row behind title protagonists Norris and Verstappen at Austin, with Norris about three-tenths clear of third-placed Sainz. 

Despite not being able to cope with the pace of the McLaren and Red Bull over a single lap, Leclerc felt that the impressive pace shown on Saturday morning in the sprint would bode well, with rival teams also ear-marking Ferrari as a potential threat for victory - something it last achieved in Texas in 2018 through Kimi Raikkonen.

"Neither one of us was capable of going to fight with the top two, they were too fast, but that's also what we expected as a team," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. 

"In the first sector in qualifying, we have a limitation in our car at the moment, and none of the setup options we thought of would cure that issue.

"But in the race, we have a lot less of that issue, and so that's why I'm a bit more optimistic.

"The belief is always to try and go and win, and I think that if we see a similar pace to [the sprint] we have chances to win. However, I expect the others to have made a step forward."

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Sainz evaluates Ferrari chances

For his part, Sainz felt the sprint performance, in which he overtook Leclerc, George Russell and finally Norris to finish second to Verstappen, would be a strong building block for Ferrari's assault on the main race.

"I deserve to be third because they did a better job in the first run," Sainz observed. 

But that second lap, I don't know what changed, if it was a lower track temp or what, but the car came alive and we were coming with a very fast lap [before Russell's crash ended the session early].

"To be in the ballpark with these two guys, whether we can beat them or not, I don't know.

"But we trust that we can hopefully get them in the race because the sprint was strong and the car even in qualifying took a step compared to Friday. 
 
"One good thing is that we had a good reference from the sprint. Obviously, these guys haven't stood still and they would have improved that front graining that a lot of people were struggling with in the Sprint. 

"But I think the field is going to be very close and it should be an exciting race between a few cars."