It was a smiling Charles Leclerc, looking at the glass half full, who appeared before the microphones after the second practice session in Jeddah. Not so much because of his position in the standings, which was partly influenced by the fact that he set his best time on his third attempt after aborting the first two laps, but more due to the feeling in the car and the direction he’s taken.
Charles Leclerc had already said after Suzuka and reiterated in Bahrain: he was experimenting with the setup to find a direction more suited to his driving style and, above all, one that could bring better results in the future.
This work continued in Jeddah. On a track where he has often felt at ease in recent years, darting between the barriers, the hope is that he has finally found the right direction to follow for the rest of the weekend.
In fact, the Monegasque driver was somewhat bold, emphasizing how clear he now is about the direction to take overnight with the setup to extract the most from the car and get closer to his first podium of the season.
“It was a complicated day because the track is clearly very demanding, and it requires a lot of confidence to perform at your best. We made a lot of changes to the car, but it was a very positive day because I learned a lot,” – Charles Leclerc said at the end of the day.
Today, the Monegasque struggled with the lack of grip, especially in the first two corners, even on his first attempt with a new soft tire: a section characterized by a low-speed change of direction, where a good combination of a precise front end—capable of giving confidence to close the corner—and a solid rear end for traction is essential.
However, there is confidence. Charles Leclerc believes there is still significant room for improvement, although McLaren remains a distant target, as seen on this Friday. “Once we put everything together, we will need to extract more performance. But McLaren still looks very strong, much stronger than us. But never say never. If I put everything together, I think anything is possible. We’ve done a good job exploring various options. It’s pretty clear in my mind what I want to do for tomorrow, so we will go in that direction and hope it pays off in qualifying,” the Monegasque driver concluded at the end of the second free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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