Mercedes' Australian GP speed so good Charles Leclerc thought it was a mistake

Charles Leclerc says Mercedes' pace at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix has been so impressive that he thought data from FP3 he saw was a mistake.

Mercedes stunned its rivals on Saturday during qualifying in Melbourne, as George Russell led a team 1-2 by almost eight tenths to third-placed Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc, who was fourth for Ferrari, said he was given data on Russell’s lap that topped FP3 that surprised him so much he thought he’d uploaded it incorrectly.

And he now admits that the advantage of the Brackley team in qualifying was even bigger than he anticipated.

“I think yesterday when we spoke I said half second,” he said when asked by Crash.net about the gap.

“Now it's eight [tenths]. So it's bigger than what I expected, for sure, but it was a very significant gap yesterday already.

“So I was very, very impressed this morning with the FP3 power that they've shown.

"It was just crazy, in the last lap of George especially, I looked at the data for the first time, and I had to re-upload it because I thought there was a problem on the things I was seeing. But apparently not. So it's very, very impressive.”

Car issue thwarts Leclerc's qualifying chances

Leclerc's qualifying effort was hindered by the same car issue team-mate Lewis Hamilton complained of, after he qualified seventh.

“We've had some issues during our qualifying, so I think there's more pace for us,” he said.

“In Q2 we've had issues with the deployment on both cars. In Q3 we had to kind of catch up the Q2 that we had missed.

“And with these cars, every lap you lose is a big disadvantage. So for sure, we weren't optimised for Q3 but yeah, at the end, they did a better job.”

He added: “I hope that very soon we are back a little bit closer to the guys in front. But it's a huge gap, so it will take a relatively long time."

Asked if Ferrari could gain from a better start on Sunday, having been fastest in testing when launching from dummy grids, he said: “I think there is a wrong expectation about the starts for the start tomorrow.

“I think our engine is a bit easier to have a good start, but I think that if Mercedes does everything optimised, there won't be that much of a difference.

"But it surely will be a little bit trickier for them to get in the right window."

Leclerc also believes the race will be a voyage of discovery for the drivers, as they get to grips with the new regulations.

“There are lots of unknowns for sure,” he said. “I don't really know how it's going to go. You can easily pass cars on the first lap.

“You can very easily then get passed by half of the grid on the next lap, if you go so stupid. So I don't know if it will end up everybody not doing anything, or seeing some crazy things, but I guess we'll wait and see tomorrow."