It is a satisfied Charles Leclerc who speaks to the microphones at the end of the first day of free practice in Monza, even if there are some small details to fix, like at the end of every Friday of testing. The Monegasque in fact closed FP2 in fifth position, about a tenth and a half from Lewis Hamilton, even if the red flag did not allow him to make a second attempt that he would have, in reality, wanted to try.
There are still positive aspects according to the Monegasque from this day, especially regarding performance, with a Ferrari overall close on the flying lap, and with some innovations that, in his opinion, from the first measurements seem to have worked as expected. In fact, both on Leclerc’s car and on Sainz’s, the updates on the floor were already mounted in the first free practice session.
This clearly inspires confidence, even if clearly everything pushes for caution, especially for Ferrari’s path during this season and because sometimes other teams have been fooled by the innovations and then struggled more during the rest of the weekend. The first sensations, however, are positive.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“It was a pretty positive Friday, although there is still work to be done, as always. But it’s a good start, the feeling is good, everything we brought to the car seems to be working as expected, which is always positive,” Leclerc said at the end of the day.
The Monegasque also mentioned how much work needs to be done on the balance. As in other events of the season, the feeling with the car is not yet completely perfect and there is something that can be improved to make the SF-24 more comfortable for the drivers to drive: this would have a double effect, that is, making it easier to find the right confidence in the car and improving tyre consumption. This, at the moment, is the main priority of the Prancing Horse.
“Now we have to focus on the balance, because it was a difficult day from that point of view, even if we did well in terms of performance. But there are steps forward that we can make in terms of balance,” added Leclerc.
“When you fix qualifying you also fix the long runs as a balance, but let’s see. I think the race on Sunday will be a bit more difficult for everyone because of the new asphalt, so tyre management will be very important. We need to focus on that, to keep the tyres alive on Sunday but, first of all, we need to make some steps forward on the balance”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Leclerc’s hope is to actually be in the mix of the leading teams, even if the issue of the tyres in the race will certainly be one to keep an eye on. Thanks to the new asphalt, the graining has weighed on the teams’ performances and even Ferrari has not been immune on the average, but it is also true that the track will improve in the coming days, thanks also to the tyre left by the support series. The sensations are undoubtedly better than those of Zandvoort, but the Monegasque rightly does not want to underestimate the competition.
“We are closer than we were in Zandvoort, however, I think the McLarens are strong and the Mercedes are also strong. We will have a lot of competition tomorrow, but we are fighting compared to Zandvoort and that is a positive thing for Saturday, hopefully we will be competitive on Sunday too.”
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