Over the weekend, Shanghai celebrated the return of the Chinese Grand Prix, which hasn’t featured on the schedule since 2019. Excited as the grid might have been for the race, particularly Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, for whom it was his first-ever Formula 1 race on home soil, Monaco-born driver Charles Leclerc has been left lamenting a difficult few days. 

The first Sprint Race of the 2024 season took place on Saturday 20th April, and Leclerc secured five points for Scuderia Ferrari while his teammate, Carlos Sainz, added four to the bag. 

Then came qualifying, less than three hours after the conclusion of the Sprint. 

“We compromised our qualifying by prioritising the race and struggled slightly more than we expected,” said Leclerc, who had to settle for sixth, a place ahead of Sainz. “Our race pace is strong and it will be a long one, with tyre degradation playing a big role here. Even the smallest change of wind can influence the car balance, so anything can happen.” 

The race itself, on Sunday 21st April, went much as Leclerc had predicted, but the Monegasque driver and his Spanish teammate both managed to gain two places on their start positions and ended in P4 and P5. 

“We’re not completely satisfied with our result as a team today,” said Leclerc post-race. “We have two things to focus on leaving Shanghai: one is our qualifying trim and the other our pace on the Hards, which was our main challenge today… What will be essential is the upcoming upgrades, as they will define the direction we will take for the next part of the season.” 

Leclerc is now third in the Drivers’ Standings, on 76 points, while the Ferrari team is in a strong second position in the Constructors’ Standings, with 151 points to Red Bull’s 195 and McLaren’s 96.

Next comes Miami on 5th May, then it will be time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was cancelled last year due to extreme flooding in Northern Italy, on 19th May. After that, it will be Monaco’s turn in the spotlight, with the most famous Grand Prix on the calendar set to take place on 26th May. 

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Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre