Leclerc believes McLaren will win in Brazil, but sprint schedule will create chances

Charles Leclerc believes McLaren will be the team to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but Ferrari are close enough that the sprint weekend format will allow them to threaten victories.

Ferrari have won each of the last two races, with Leclerc taking victory at the Circuit of the Americas and then Carlos Sainz taking an impressive win in Mexico City last weekend. Leclerc doesn’t expect the Interlagos circuit layout to be as favorable to Ferrari as it is to its rivals, but he says the differences are so small that a challenging schedule could be a benefit.

“I think on paper Qatar will probably be the toughest weekend left for us,” Leclerc said. “Perhaps this is the second film from which we do not expect much stardom. I think Las Vegas should be really good for us and Abu Dhabi should be neutral.

“We really need to focus step by step. These are very small details and sometimes they can make a big difference, especially on a sprint weekend like this.

“We only have one free training session. If we can do really good work during this free training, anything will be possible. The margin is not large enough to be definitively called P3. If we do a really good job, we have a chance to win this race. Although on paper I don’t think we are the favorites and McLaren will probably be the team to beat.”

Leclerc also sees opportunity in the fact that Interlagos has a new track surface and teams will have limited time to adjust to any changes from previous years.

“FP1 will be very important,” he said. “As I said earlier, I think this will play a big role in who comes out on top this weekend. The team that adapts the fastest, the team that anticipated the best on the new asphalt, will have the advantage and hopefully we can be one of them.”