Leclerc delivers jibe at F1 title rivals with HIDING claim

Charles Leclerc has suggested that some of Ferrari's rivals may have been hiding their true pace following upgrades to their cars during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend.

In the early part of the weekend in Imola, Ferrari looked to be favourites for the win, with Leclerc looking strong in the three practice sessions to give himself hope of a first pole position since the 2023 Las Vegas GP, and potentially a first victory since the 2022 Austrian GP.

READ MORE: Horner reveals Perez CHANGE after disastrous race in Imola

However, both McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen managed to outqualify both Leclerc and Sainz, before penalties, and then Lando Norris and Verstappen went on to finish comfortably ahead of Leclerc in a dramatic race.

Leclerc did manage to grab a podium, but nonetheless the expectant Ferrari fans were left disappointed at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, particularly as the Maranello-based team had brought a plethora of updates to the track.

Make or break time for Ferrari

Ferrari weren't the only ones to have brought an upgraded package to Imola. Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes were all hoping to kick their season on with updates to their cars.

Leclerc believes that time will tell as to whether or not Ferrari's upgrades have worked, as well as accusing McLaren of 'sandbagging' throughout the weekend to hide their true pace.

"I think we need to wait and see a few races before judging them because we might not be running in the optimal window for this new package," he told media including GPFans after qualifying in Imola. "I'm sure there's more potential to unlock.

“Was today worse than expected? Probably a little bit. We expected to be a bit closer. However, the season is still long and we still have plenty of ideas how to extract more of this package and I'm sure that we will in the next few races and that will be crucial for the rest of the season.

"I think that they [McLaren] were just running more fuel yesterday. They were hiding their game a bit more so or low engine mode or whatever they did. I think they were just hiding their game a little bit more."

READ MORE: Norris and Verstappen share DRAMATIC fight for win

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