Charles Leclerc: We're behind both McLaren and Red Bull.

      Charles Leclerc, reflecting on his chances this weekend, said that at the moment Ferrari is behind not only McLaren but also Red Bull. However, since he really likes the Baku circuit, that could be an additional factor that allows hope for a good result.

      Charles Leclerc: "The McLaren team will be ahead of everyone, but in Monza Red Bull together with Max showed impressive progress – I think they managed to sort some things out and fitted the car with a number of very effective new components that allowed them to take a big step forward.

      I suppose they will also be competing with McLaren. At the moment both of those teams are stronger than us, so we'll probably end up behind them. As for Mercedes, there's never any certainty with them. Like us, they also lack consistency.

      But I really like this track, and I've performed well here, especially in qualifying. Races have been harder; that's where the true capabilities of our car show, but we'll do everything we can. Then we'll see what we're able to achieve.

      On a single fast lap you can sometimes hide the chassis' weaknesses, but over long stints tyre degradation comes into play, and then all the shortcomings become obvious. Although the main difficulty of the Baku circuit is the proximity of the walls.

      It's precisely because of that that performances here become a serious test. On the one hand, all street circuits are challenging in their own way, but in Baku there's a very narrow section that runs along the fortress wall. In addition, the track climbs there, and you can make up a lot of time. But I'm already looking forward to working on this street circuit!

      Overall I feel confident on street circuits; I do well on them naturally, and the Baku City Circuit may have some additional characteristics that make me perform particularly strongly here. In general, I'm in a very good frame of mind right now, and I think we'll be able to fight for a strong result.

      But my approach to preparing for the weekend remains the same. I always prepare the same way, preferring not to look back too much."