Charles Leclerc is anticipating “more of a difficult weekend” for Ferrari at the Brit𝐆ish Grand Prix, tipping Mercedes to be “a lot stronger” than it was last time out in Austria.

Leclerc took pole for Ferrari and led the majority of the race before finishing second af🥀ter being passed late on by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Austria, with Mercedes lagging behind as the third-fastest team.

It was the first race Mercedes had failed to win in 2019, leaving Ferrari as the only of the ‘big three’ teams yet to recorꦜd a victory this year.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Leclerc talked up Ferrari’s recent run of form, but said he expected Mercedes to strike back this weekend at a 𝓡track that suits its car better.

“I think it was a ꦆgood few races [for Ferrari], even before♑ Austria,” Leclerc said.

“Paul Ricard, OK, [at] Paul Ricard Mercedes was very quick, but I think our race pace was quite promising. Canada we were quite 🥂strong too. We seem to be a little b♉it better.

“But I still expect Mercedes to be very, ver🌃y strong this weekend, a lot stronger than they were in Au✤stria.

🍰“It might be more of a difficult weekend for us, bu﷽t we’ll give it everything and hopefully a good result at the end of the weekend.

“Overall there are plenty of positives. But we still nee🌳d to focus on the negatives which is our ꦯcornering speed, and try to focus on that too to improve in the future."

While Ferrari's straight-line speed advanta🃏ge allowed it to take victory at Silverstone last year through Sebastian Vettel, Mercedes has been able to overhaul much of the deficit through the corners this season, making the team the favourite for this weekend's race.