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Leclerc warns Ferrari ‘cannot rely on a good Friday’ with ‘work to be done’ despite strong start in Singapore
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Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari still have work to do ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix to ensure that they remain in the mix, despite the Monegasque ending Friday’s practice sessions in first and second place respectively.
Following on from his good run of form in Monza and Baku – having taken a race win in the former and a P2 result in the latter – Leclerc kicked off his weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in equally promising style, putting himself at the top of the FP1 timesheets by just 0.076s from Lando Norris.
FP2: Norris edges out Leclerc as Russell crashes during second practice in Singapore
The order reversed in FP2, with Norris setting the pace while Leclerc was only 0.058s behind in second place. Despite this strong start – with Leclerc and Norris some way ahead of their rivals – Leclerc feels that the Scuderia still have room for improvement.
“It felt good, but there is still some work to be done,” the 26-year-old explained. “The car didn’t exactly feel like I wanted so, yeah, we still have to try and improve it.
“And of course with the forecast for the rest of the weekend, it’s a little bit up and down so we will have to adapt very quickly, so we cannot rely on a good Friday.
Ferrari 'cannot rely on a good Friday' – Leclerc suggests there's 'still work to be done'
“But it’s been a good Friday and it’s better to have a good one than a bad one. It’s a good starting point, but we still have to push forward.”
In terms of what he would like to work on, Leclerc said: “Just a bit more balance in the car, putting everything together in terms of driving and then we should be in a good place for tomorrow.”
Leclerc has previously claimed pole position in Singapore on two occasions and the seven-time race winner is hopeful of trying to repeat this feat, despite expecting the gaps to close amongst his rivals.
“I think we are in the mix,” he added. “But let’s see – I just hope the picture doesn’t change much for tomorrow.
“I would be very surprised if we have the same advantage as we had today, I mean the same gap from me to the third place. I really believe everyone will be much closer tomorrow and it will be much tighter. Then we will have to understand if it changes the pecking order or not.”
Sainz predicts 'another interesting weekend' in Singapore
Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, ended both of Friday’s practice sessions in P3 on a day where he suffered issues with the brakes on his SF-24.
“It’s been a bit of a topic in our team this year, running through some brake issues normally on Friday,” the Spaniard said later on. “And today it was my turn to face them, with a lot of inconsistency on the brakes throughout FP2 especially on cooldown laps.
FP1: Leclerc goes fastest from Norris and Sainz during first practice in Singapore
“We were having plenty of issues out there which doesn’t help my confidence or preparation for the weekend. When we are not having these issues and whenever we are having clean laps we are quick out there, so it’s not something that concerns me if we manage to put everything together tomorrow.”
On whether he could therefore be in the fight for pole and the race win should those issues be solved, Sainz answered: “I think so, I think we have a strong enough car to be in the fight.
“Lando seemed very quick also, and I think Red Bull and Mercedes are still yet to show a bit their hand, so I think we are on for another interesting weekend.”
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