Chinese Grand Prix – “The mood in the team is very good”

Shanghai, 11 April 2019 – Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc tackled the Shanghai International Circuit on foot today, walking the 5.451 kilometres of asphalt that represents the Chinese symbol “shang” which forms the basis of the name Shanghai. After that, both drivers met fans at the autograph session, before having their first meeting of the weekend with the media in the Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow hospitality.

#Race1000. Sunday’s race that starts at 14.10 local time, (8.10 CET) is race number 1000 in the history of Formula 1 and Sebastian Vettel addressed the topic when talking to the journalists. “I think this is an important weekend and I’ve been asked many times which is the race I remember best as a spectator, before I became a driver. There’s not just one: I remember when Ayrton Senna won the Brazilian Grand Prix (in 1991). I was a kid and watched Formula 1 with my father. I remember I was struck by the fact that, after the chequered flag, the driver was so tired that he was struggling to stand up. The other races I remember well were the key moments in Michael Schumacher’s career.” Sebastian went on to say he felt confident about Sunday’s race, referring to the colours that are considered lucky in China and are also found on the SF90. “I think we have a good car and also, red and yellow bring good luck here. Let’s hope we get to see a lot of red and yellow on Sunday!”

Energy. Next, it was Charles Leclerc’s turn to face the press and the Monegasque driver spoke of the atmosphere within the team and the upcoming Grand Prix. “I don’t have any particular expectations for this race at the moment, but I’m quite sure we will discover our true potential after free practice and even more so after qualifying. Coming to China from Bahrain, the mood in the team is obviously very positive. I think we need to keep this energy going and hopefully we can have a good weekend, just as we did at Sakhir before the issue. The positive thing is that we have understood what the problem was and we do not expect it to happen anymore.”

Free practice tomorrow. Track action for the thousandth Formula 1 Championship Grand Prix begins officially with Friday free practice, the two sessions starting at 10.00 and 14.00 (4.00 and 8.00 CET.)