F1 | Leclerc: “Today I took more risks, tomorrow I’m aiming for pole”

It is a Ferrari that dreams, but with caution. The first day of free practice in Monaco ended with Charles Leclerc the star of FP2, thanks to some excellent laps that led him to be the reference driver on both the medium and soft.

The potential of the Red, at least in the hands of the Monegasque, given that Carlos Sainz encountered some more difficulty in finding the setup, was evident above all in the second free practice session during the flying lap simulations, when Leclerc began to build some times impressive.

On average, for example, the Ferrarista managed to lead his opponents by more than nine tenths, a performance that seemed to go well beyond the wildest expectations, although over the years Leclerc has always demonstrated that he has a special feeling with the streets of the Principality. A time which, however, according to the Monegasque, also arrived because he took a few more risks than his rivals, although, clearly, nine tenths remains a significant deficit.

In fact, that gap was significantly reduced when everyone put on the softest tyre, the one with which it will be important to make the difference in qualifying, the decisive phase of the weekend. It is no mystery that during this season Ferrari has experienced some more critical issues in extracting the last cent, not only in the transition from medium to soft, but also in the transition between Q2 and Q3, when the drivers really reach the limit .

Leclerc also mentioned this aspect today and it will be one of the issues on which to work to secure a pole that Ferrari believes it can fight for, given the good feeling experienced by the Monegasque driver with his SF-24: “I believe that on the on medium we were really strong, while on the soft we struggled to put everything together, there was a lot of traffic. Overall, we have a good car for the moment, I have confidence in the car, I feel comfortable”, said Leclerc, before mentioning how important it will be to find those sensations again tomorrow in FP3, because on other occasions this year Ferrari will she behaves well on Friday and then sees the others take a step forward on Saturday.

“However, the important thing is to maintain this pace in FP3 too, because Monaco is like that. Today I may have taken a few more risks than the others, which paid off, but it all depends on tomorrow in qualifying when everyone starts to go towards the limit. For now, I think we’ve done a great job, but we have to keep working, focus on ourselves, but overall it’s a positive Friday.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Clearly, in Monaco it is difficult to make the perfect lap, there is always something that can be done better, finding the limit in one point compared to another section of the track. Leclerc is aware of this, also because those last hundredths tend to be left for qualifying, but already today by putting together the best partials it would be possible to remove a few tenths: “I think there is still some margin, in myself, to put everything together. If you look at my three sectors, I think there was still some margin from a timing point of view if you put all the pieces of the puzzle together. That will be the main point, but let’s say that from a performance and feeling point of view, we are there.”

Mercedes finished in second position on Friday, with the drivers saying they were very satisfied with the behavior of the W15 on this first day of free practice. Leclerc knows well how Monaco represents a very particular event in the calendar, where many unexpected things can happen, although over the course of the year the Star has often shown good competitiveness in the slow corners: “We arrived here knowing that anything was possible. In 2021 we didn’t have a particularly good car like Ferrari, but in Monaco the characteristics of our car suited that particular track well and we were fast,” said the Ferrarista.

“The Mercedes look fast this weekend, although they have struggled since the start of the season, they look very fast this weekend. We expect them to be the same tomorrow. Now we will try to maximize everything tomorrow and hope to get pole”, added Leclerc, underlining that the objective is pole.