News
Leclerc reckons Ferrari are ‘more in the fight’ on home soil as Sainz gives his take on ‘completely new’ Monza track
Share
Ferrari gave the Tifosi cause for optimism on the opening day of practice for the Italian Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing inside the top-five positions in both sessions.
After Leclerc placed second and Sainz fourth in FP1, the Monegasque posted the fifth-fastest time during FP2 and the Spaniard the third-quickest lap – behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Ferrari enter the weekend aiming to move on from a run of more challenging races, and Leclerc reckons the early signs are positive for the team, who have introduced a host of new parts on their home soil.
“It was quite a positive Friday, however there’s still some work to do as always and we cannot rely on a good Friday to have a good weekend overall,” Leclerc commented.
“But it’s a good start, the feeling is quite nice, everything we brought to the car seems to be working as expected, which is always a good thing.
Ferrari will be aiming to put on a show for their dedicated fans at Monza this weekend
“Now we’ve just got to focus on the balance because it’s been a tricky day balance-wise; performance-wise we were pretty good, but balance-wise there are still some steps we can do in the right direction.”
Pushed on whether the track seems to be suiting Ferrari’s car better, and if porpoising was not such an issue after recent bouncing-related struggles, Leclerc said: “Yeah. We are closer than where we were in Zandvoort.
“However, again, I still feel like McLaren are strong and also Mercedes are very strong. We’ll have a lot of competition tomorrow, but we are more in the fight than in Zandvoort. That’s a good thing for Saturday and then hopefully on Sunday we’ll be strong too.”
Sainz, meanwhile, opened up about the various challenges faced by the drivers on Friday as they attempted to get to grips with a new track surface and new kerbs amid high temperatures.
FP2 Highlights: 2024 Italian Grand Prix
“It was a very challenging day, I think, for everyone out there,” he said. “The layout is the same, but the track feels completely different to any other year with this peaky new surface.
“It makes the car a bit on the edge in all the medium-speed corners, and the braking is very tricky into Turn 1. Even if the lap times are the same as other years, the kerbs and the tarmac have changed a lot the situation.”
Asked for his expectations as the weekend develops, he said: “I think today in particular is very difficult to read. I don’t have a clear picture of who is fastest, who is quick in the long-run, short-run. It definitely seems like McLaren and Mercedes seem to be in a good spot.
“Ourselves, we have flashes of being very quick sometimes, and others a bit slower. We were quick on the medium tyres but then on the soft we were nothing special, and then on the mediums in the long-run we seemed to be struggling a bit with the graining.
“I don’t know. It’s going to be interesting to see who manages to take the right conclusion out of today, because there’s a lot of information gathered. As I said, it’s a very new circuit, and [we’ll see] who puts it together for tomorrow and Sunday.”
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Feature What the teams said – Race day in Las Vegas
News Russell overjoyed with ‘dream of a weekend’ after claiming first Mercedes pole and win in four months
Feature INSIGHT: What a lap of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit feels like alongside a 59-time Grand Prix starter
News ‘A very special and beautiful season’ – Verstappen ‘proud’ after joining elites as a four-time F1 champion in Las Vegas
