F1 | Vasseur: “OK session. The race pace performance was there”

Ferrari is not in the top positions of the standings at the end of Friday's free practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but both Ferraris have given comforting signals in terms of race pace.

Already in Sakhir we understood how close the cars were on the flying lap and today too we were able to appreciate this fact. But the race pace was particularly revealing. Also in this case Max Verstappen gave an example of his potential, but the SF-24s gave excellent results with both Soft and Medium tyres.

At the end of Free Practice 2, Frédéric Vasseur commented on the work done by his boys and said he was satisfied especially with the race simulation. Leclerc and Sainz showed interesting things, second only to the usual Max Verstappen.

“Overall it was the session we expected,” began the Ferrari team principal. “As for the flying lap, it's difficult to comment because I'm not at all sure that we were all on the same fuel levels. But the session went well and we managed to do two good laps.”

“In terms of race pace we went well, we were quite consistent and the performance was there. I would say that it was a good session for us even if it was complex on Carlos' part because he wasn't feeling very well. But he did a good job considering his conditions.”

Today the Ferraris ran with more loaded rear wings than their opponents, but according to Vasseur almost everyone will converge on the same load level tomorrow.

“Regarding the level of aerodynamic load used, I think we will all converge on the same level, with a few exceptions. We have worked in this way to make the drivers adapt well to the track. There will be a big improvement on the track between today and tomorrow and I am of course we will all have the same load level tomorrow.”

Leclerc surprised by doing the race simulation on the Soft compounds, while Sainz worked on the Mediums. Vasseur explained the choice made regarding the Monegasque's stint.

“Last year we had the opportunity to race with the Softs in the race with Charles. After the penalty he came back in 12th and fitting him with a set of Softs went quite well. It wasn't a bad stint on his part, if we consider the degradation of the Softs It was an opportunity to try something different.”