Charles Leclerc dominated both of Friday’s practice sessions at Imola.
Charles Leclerc finished top of the standings in both free practice sessions at Imola on Friday, but believes “conditions will change massively” come Saturday.
With that, he urged Ferrari to beat their rivals to the punch and react the best of anyone, with a change in wind direction set to change how the cars react to the unique demands of Imola come qualifying.
Charles Leclerc: Imola set to ‘change massively’ after two P1 placings in practice
Ferrari, along with several other teams, arrived at Imola this weekend with significant upgrades. In both FP1 and FP2, Leclerc showcased impressive speed as the refined version of the car seems to be performing better than ever.
Leclerc confirmed that the updates have been successful as intended. However, he emphasized the team’s cautious approach, stating that they are remaining grounded despite outperforming McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes during Friday’s practice session. He also mentioned that a change in wind direction on Saturday will present a completely new and challenging driving experience.
Leclerc expressed that, at present, things proceeded without any complications, while speaking in the TV pen following the session.
“The car feels great, the upgrades are functioning as anticipated, a positive development, and it has been an incredibly seamless day.”
Being at home is a fantastic experience, especially for Ferrari. The immense support we receive throughout the track holds a special place in our hearts. It means a lot to each one of us, and we hope that the weekend carries on in the same positive direction.
“Nevertheless, tomorrow will bring about significant changes in the prevailing conditions. The wind will undergo a complete shift, greatly impacting all the cars, thus demanding our utmost proficiency in anticipating and adapting to these alterations.”
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“Considering the upcoming significant changes in track conditions tomorrow, it is crucial for us to stay grounded and prioritize our track position, as it holds utmost importance.”
Qualifying holds immense significance, and it is crucial for us to perform exceptionally well in order to secure our position. Therefore, there is still a considerable amount of work that needs to be done, and we are fully committed to giving our utmost effort to ensure a successful qualifying session tomorrow.
On the other side of the garage, Carlos Sainz opted to use both practice sessions to the fullest after two Sprint weekends have limited the Scuderia’s practice running of late – and the rest of the field’s, for that matter.
Despite the unsuccessful set-up change made for FP2, he mentioned that he would go back to how his car felt during the first practice session to maximize its performance.
“Yeah, feeling good,” Sainz said.
“I believe I had a solid FP1 session where I felt extremely comfortable with the car. In FP2, we decided to treat it as a testing opportunity and experimented with a few adjustments.”
Clearly, it has been quite some time since we last had the chance to conduct tests due to two consecutive Sprint weekends.
“We had the intention of testing a few items and experimenting with the car’s configuration. Unfortunately, we might have taken a wrong turn, but we plan on reverting to the FP1 setup and expect to regain our strength for tomorrow.”
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