Ferrari started the Monza weekend with two good sessions. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc remained in the top positions, also giving glimpses of interesting things regarding the race pace.
At the end of the day, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to Sky Sport F1, touching on various topics including Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s debut.
Vasseur, what picture do these first two free practice sessions in Monza leave?
“We are all very close. Then in the group there are both Red Bulls, and usually we only see one in the front positions. We expected a similar situation up front and we have to keep in mind that the track will improve a lot.”
Are you satisfied with what you saw?
“I’m satisfied with today. It’s good to have two cars at the front. The balance was good and we’re there. We know perfectly well that between now and Sunday evening there’s a very long road ahead. The weekend is up in the air for everyone, it’s difficult to stay ahead all the time. We’ll have to keep an open mind to try to do that.”
In your opinion, how are the updates you brought here to Monza performing?
“Here we brought a specific floor and wing for Monza. Monza is not the best track to understand how we are doing, but if we do well here I think we will do well elsewhere too. Every little addition can make the difference.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Today the graining was a surprise. Will it be the same until Sunday?
“Graining could change things. But the improvement of the track should reduce it. It’s difficult to say now, but I think between now and Sunday we will make big steps forward. I don’t know if it will be enough to eliminate it, but we will all improve in this respect.”
We’ve seen so many different approaches in long runs…
“Today we saw different approaches in the start of the long runs, but you can’t be so extreme by doing a tyre introduction lap that is 2 seconds slower (referring to Hamilton, ed.), it’s not representative. If you lose that much in the first laps you lose 4-5 positions. We always prefer to do it in the second part of the stint and not push too much. However, there are phases of the race where some try to undercut you or you try to undercut other cars. So the situations are always different and you can’t always afford to manage the tyres. Of course, there is always an ideal way to preserve the tyres, but it’s not a given that you can do it. It’s also good to push hard straight away to understand what the limit is for the race.”
Finally, what do you think of Antonelli’s explosive debut?
“I think it hasn’t been easy for Kimi. He did a great job in the preparatory series and he’s doing well in F2 too. Of course, debuting here and going out on the track with the Softs maybe didn’t do him any good, but you shouldn’t draw conclusions after just one session. I’ve already read a lot of comments after two laps in which he was leading and they painted him as a star. It’s not easy to start in F1. He’s doing a lot of laps in the simulator, but the pressure in F1 is different.”
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