Going off of historical data, Leclerc usually has around 0.2s on Sainz in race trim [across the 3 years as teammates]. Let's be a bit more conservative for the sake of not being overly optimistic and say 0.15s. Assuming no brake issues and the historical delta between them, that would put Leclerc at an avg lap pace of 95.8 oppose to Verstappens 95.6. I think that seems a realistic assessment.
Leclerc speaks as if P2 was a 100% certainty given no issues and that the gap to Verstappen is not entirely representitive. Anyways I haven't given up on our hopes yet.
Jeddah's smooth surface should nullify RBR's deg advantage a little bit. Bahrain also showed us the car is competitive with a good medium-high speed corrner balance. Should allow Ferrari to be a bit more aggressive with the setup. Given they find a good balance early on, I think race is on in SA.
Pin this so I can either look like a hero or a total idiot next weekend.