Ferrari admit they lack pace compared to the Mercedes-powered cars

Ferrari entered the Japanese Grand Prix weekend looking to build on strong performances from recent races, but the opening day at Suzuka proved more complex than expected.

While both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton showed competitive pace at times, the Scuderia found themselves trailing McLaren and Mercedes in key moments across Friday’s sessions.

In FP1, Leclerc and Hamilton pushed each other closely, running as the nearest challengers to Mercedes for much of the hour. However, a late soft‑tyre push from McLaren shuffled the order, leaving Ferrari just outside the top four.

The trend continued into FP2, where Leclerc again edged Hamilton, but both cars ended the session behind the McLarens.

Despite the mixed picture, Ferrari’s pace wasn’t without promise. Both drivers experienced small moments and balance issues throughout the day, suggesting that more performance remains untapped heading into Saturday.

Charles Leclerc finished both sessions in P5, clocking a 1:31.955 in FP1 and a 1:30.846 in FP2. The Monegasque acknowledged that the day was more challenging than recent weekends but remained optimistic about Ferrari’s long‑run potential: “It was a more tricky day for us as a team, compared to the last two races, but it’s only the first day of the weekend.

"Our race pace seems to be good so far, although there is still quite a gap to the front runners. Our focus going forward will be on working on the qualifying performance for tomorrow.”

Lewis Hamilton, who finished both sessions in P6 with times of 1:32.040 (FP1) and 1:30.980 (FP2), echoed Leclerc’s assessment. While the car felt fundamentally solid, he noted that Ferrari is still missing a step in overall pace: “It’s been a slightly tricky day for us.

"The car doesn’t feel bad overall, but at the moment we’re just lacking a bit of pace and the balance is not quite where we want it to be.

"We’ll work hard overnight to improve the set-up and try to make a step forward for tomorrow. There are areas where we can do better, including deployment, and if we can put everything together we should be able to extract more performance.”