Despite the difficulties, Charles Leclerc appeared confident after practice in Spain: “I have a very clear vision of what we need to do.”
Charles Leclerc started the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with some difficulties, especially compared to his teammate and home favorite, Carlos Sainz. While Sainz managed to place in the top three in both Friday’s practice sessions, Leclerc finished 11th and 6th, respectively, not quite matching the strong performance of the SF-24 in the hands of the Spaniard (although, unlike Sainz, he didn’t have updates in FP1).
Despite this, the Monegasque driver remains optimistic. Leclerc explained the reasons for his lack of speed, and it’s reasonable to expect his performance to improve starting at 12:30 PM today during FP3.
Charles Leclerc’s Words
Speaking at the press conference, Leclerc said: “I think FP1 was very difficult for everyone, especially due to the extremely hot conditions, which make these cars very hard to drive because of overheating, and I believe we struggled with the balance. Additionally, I initially didn’t have the update because we wanted to compare both cars, so it was quite a challenging session for me. In FP2, I regained the feeling; in the end, I put everything together, but there’s still a bit of speed to find.”.
Among the various challenges of a less-than-stellar Friday, Leclerc was kept in the garage for a considerable time during FP2 for a radical setup change, adjusting key parameters and revolutionizing the SF-24’s balance. Notably, during FP1, Leclerc described the car as “horrible to drive,” only to find his rhythm again in FP2.
Leclerc added: “I have a very clear vision of what we need to do to improve the car, and I’m confident we’ll take a step forward tomorrow.”
Sainz: “Good on a Single Lap, But Race Pace…”
As for the home hero, Carlos Sainz finished third in FP1 and second in FP2, just 0.022s behind Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. The Spaniard, whose best result in Barcelona is a fourth place, has already expressed his strong desire to aim for victory tomorrow, provided the SF-24 can give him the right competitiveness.
“It seems we are reasonably good on a single lap,” Sainz said. “However, on race pace, we seem to struggle a bit more… just like last year here. So, let’s see if we can put together a better package, especially for Sunday. I think we are good on a single lap,”concluded number 55.
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
