“It's a fine line to get it right or completely wrong on the out lap and putting the tyres in the right window and I have been struggling more than Carlos.
“He's driving at a high level which is great for the team.”
Leclerc said he was confident he could improve his qualifying quickly.
“I’m not worried but I need to show that on track, starting from tomorrow [Friday] in qualifying,” he added.
Ferrari are second in the constructors' standings, 21 points behind Red Bull, whose triple world champion Max Verstappen has won three of the four races and started them all on pole position.
Sainz finished third in Bahrain, with Leclerc fourth, and third in Japan where Leclerc was also fourth. In Australia Ferrari finished one-two.
Leclerc started ahead of Sainz in Bahrain but the Spaniard got the better of his teammate in qualifying for Australia and Japan.
Leclerc said China, returning to the calendar for the first time since 2019, should be better for Ferrari than the previous race in Japan though he expected Red Bull to have the upper hand.
Leclerc says Sainz is doing a better job than him
Image: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said teammate Carlos Sainz was getting more out of the car than him in the battle with Formula One champions Red Bull but he was not worried.
Sainz, who is leaving the Italian team at the end of the season to make way for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, is only four points behind Leclerc despite missing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because of appendicitis.
The Spaniard has finished on the podium in all three races he has started and won in Australia on his return from surgery.
“It's as simple as he's doing a better job,” Leclerc said when asked at the Chinese Grand Prix on Thursday whether Sainz was adapting better to the car than him.
“In Bahrain [the opening race] it’s difficult to compare because on my side I was facing issues and I think it was a strong weekend apart from that. However, in the past two races he’s been stronger.
“It's up to me now to work, especially in the qualifying pace which is normally a strength. I have been struggling to put the lap together.
Why F1 faces a fresh challenge on its return to China
“It's a fine line to get it right or completely wrong on the out lap and putting the tyres in the right window and I have been struggling more than Carlos.
“He's driving at a high level which is great for the team.”
Leclerc said he was confident he could improve his qualifying quickly.
“I’m not worried but I need to show that on track, starting from tomorrow [Friday] in qualifying,” he added.
Ferrari are second in the constructors' standings, 21 points behind Red Bull, whose triple world champion Max Verstappen has won three of the four races and started them all on pole position.
Sainz finished third in Bahrain, with Leclerc fourth, and third in Japan where Leclerc was also fourth. In Australia Ferrari finished one-two.
Leclerc started ahead of Sainz in Bahrain but the Spaniard got the better of his teammate in qualifying for Australia and Japan.
Leclerc said China, returning to the calendar for the first time since 2019, should be better for Ferrari than the previous race in Japan though he expected Red Bull to have the upper hand.
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