Leclerc vows to bounce back after Sprint slump

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has openly admitted that his performance was below par during Saturday's Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

While his teammate Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win with the Scuderia in dominant style, , Leclerc could only manage a fifth-place finish in the 19-lap race, acknowledging that he needs to step up his game to match his teammate's form.

With qualifying for Sunday's race looming later today, Leclerc's self-critique signals a push to turn his weekend around.

A Familiar Shanghai Stumble

Leclerc's woes began long before the sprint's 19 laps unfolded. After sprint qualifying on Friday, he flagged a recurring weakness at the Shanghai International Circuit.

"I struggled on my side of the garage. From the beginning, I felt like I was a step back compared to Lewis and Lewis was just faster today," he told the media.

"I struggled a lot in Turns 1, 2 and 3, which is more or less the same struggles I had as last year, so that's a bit of a shame but apart from that, everything was quite tight."

That vulnerability carried into the race, where Hamilton's pole-to-flag masterclass underscored the gap.

From the green light, Leclerc held fourth briefly before Russell edged past on lap one, a position he couldn't reclaim. Hamilton led McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen to the podium, with Russell securing fourth—leaving Leclerc as the second-best Ferrari in fifth.

The result stung, especially after Ferrari's shaky Australian Grand Prix last week, where Leclerc finished eighth and Hamilton tenth. Today's 12-point haul for the Italian outfit offered some relief, but Leclerc's sights were set higher.

Self-Blame Over Setup Choices

Post-sprint, Leclerc dissected his performance with brutal honesty, refusing to point fingers at the SF-25.

"I wouldn't really blame the car because Lewis is doing a great job with it, so for me, it's me really, until now I haven't been comfortable with the car as it is," he said.

He revealed a tactical divergence, noting, "I took a slightly different direction compared to Lewis in terms of setup, but I don't think it's all in there."

The setup tweak didn't deliver, but Leclerc dismissed it as the sole culprit. Instead, he circled back to his own execution.

Shanghai has historically been a thorn in his side, and this weekend proved no exception.

"I just really struggle on this track historically, and there's no exception this weekend, but it's not an excuse," he insisted.

Hamilton's dominance laid bare the disparity. While the Brit thrived, Leclerc battled discomfort, unable to extract the same magic from an identical machine.

"Lewis was just faster today," he'd said earlier, a refrain that echoed in his mind as the chequered flag fell.

Eyes on Qualifying Redemption

With fifth place secured but satisfaction elusive, Leclerc turned his focus to the next challenge: qualifying at 3 p.m. local time (7 a.m. GMT).

"I need to react and qualifying would be a good start to turn things around," he declared.

The session offers a clean slate to reset his weekend and challenge Hamilton's intra-team supremacy. Ferrari's resurgence from Melbourne's woes shows the car's potential, but Leclerc knows he must bridge the gap to his teammate.

As Hamilton soaked in the adulation of the Chinese crowd, Leclerc retreated to the data, determined to decode his Shanghai slump.

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