<\/p>\n
“I feel like we have work to do,” Leclerc told reporters after handing over to teammate Carlos Sainz for the final session. “Red Bull seems to be very strong in these three days.”<\/p>\n
Leclerc was runner-up last year to Red Bull’s double world champion Max Verstappen, and the two will renew their rivalry when the season kicks off in Bahrain next week.<\/p>\n
The Ferrari driver said he was feeling in the best shape of his life after extreme winter training in the Dolomites, and was fully recharged.<\/p>\n
Ferrari started last year strongly, with Leclerc winning two of the first three races, before the challenge was diluted by strategic errors, unreliability and driver failure.<\/p>\n
Mattia Binotto has since stepped down as manager, replaced by Frenchman Fred Vasseur, whose task is to clinch the team’s first championship since the constructors’ title in 2008.<\/p>\n
Red Bull won 17 of the 22 races last year, Verstappen won 15 of them.<\/p>\n
Leclerc said that the new SF-23 car was very different from last year.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been trying out a lot of different driving styles. It seems like this morning I finally found my way a bit,” he said. “I hope we’ll be a little quicker on the straights, maybe it’ll be a little harder in the corners,” he added.<\/p>\n
“We’re still working quite a bit on trying to find the sweet spot of the car in terms of setup, so hopefully there’s some leeway on that yet, that we haven’t found the sweet spot yet.<\/p>\n
Verstappen, who was quickest in the two sessions on Thursday and second on Friday afternoon, told reporters he was happy with his car even if it was still a work in progress.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n