Charles Leclerc agrees with Lewis Hamilton about Ferrari’s gap to Mercedes at the Chinese Grand Prix

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Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have agreed that Ferrari urgently need to improve their power unit after Mercedes maintained their significant advantage in Sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton was the lead Ferrari driver on Friday in fourth place, six-tenths off George Russell’s pole time. Leclerc was a couple of spots further back in sixth.

Ferrari were seen as the closest challengers to Mercedes when they arrived in Shanghai, but Lando Norris was ‘best of the rest’ in third, and Oscar Piastri managed to split the two scarlet red cars. That suggests reigning champions McLaren have also made a step in the last week.

Mercedes boast a 0.621s lead over McLaren atop the SQ3 timesheets after Sprint Qualifying in China

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Charles Leclerc says Ferrari can’t live with Mercedes in qualifying

Speaking in the media pen after Sprint qualifying, Leclerc said that Mercedes are making a leap in qualifying trim that Ferrari simply can’t live with.

Leclerc was eight-tenths off Russell’s benchmark in Melbourne qualifying before challenging the Briton for the win after a rapid start to the race.

Ferrari abandoned their Macarena rear wing before Sprint Qualifying due to reliability concerns

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That gives him cause for optimism, but Ferrari must work out why they can’t compete over a single lap.

“In qualifying, Mercedes still seems to be a step ahead,” he said. “For some reason, the Mercedes power unit seems a step ahead in qualifying. We don’t find that lap time just yet, but in the race, we are closer.”

Ferrari have ‘a lot of work to do’ on their engine, Lewis Hamilton says

Hamilton raised suspicions over Mercedes’ engine last week after the winter scandal over fuel compression ratios. But he has now made clear that the onus is on Ferrari to improve.

Norris claimed Ferrari had the best car after Australia based on the cornering speed, but Mercedes are blitzing them on the straights for the moment.

Intriguingly, Hamilton admits Ferrari were concerned about the Silver Arrows last year based on their early reallocation of resources.

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton’s body language at the Chinese Grand Prix is strikingly different to one year ago

“On the straights, it’s a lot of time to be losing. We have a lot of work to do, we really have to push so hard back in Maranello to improve on power.

“It’s something that we were conscious of last year that Mercedes started earlier than the rest. They’ve done a fantastic job.

“We’ve got to step up and push to close that gap. Car-wise, it feels great and we can compete with them through corners, but when you’re down on power, it’s just the way it is.”