Charles Leclerc pushes, but there’s still much work to do
It was a Friday of highs and lows for Charles Leclerc at the 6.003-kilometre Baku City Circuit. Despite the crash at Turn 15 during the first free practice session and the problems at the start of FP2, the Monegasque still ended his Friday in Baku at the top, setting the fastest time of the day with a 1:43.484, just six thousandths ahead of a resurgent Sergio Perez, who has always been fond of the Azerbaijan street circuit.
Car number 16 seemed quite worried on the radio during the first minutes of the second session, stating that the car felt off and very difficult to drive. However, the mechanics managed to get him back on track without issues after about twenty minutes, allowing Charles to complete a qualifying simulation and a few laps during long runs.
“Today we had good pace, even though, between the crash in the first session and the steering issue in the second, I didn’t manage to complete as many laps as I would have liked,” Charles Leclerc commented at the end of the day in Baku – “It will be important to have a trouble-free FP3 to get the most out of our package for tomorrow’s qualifying.”
Regarding the crash, the Ferrari driver explained that “I braked a bit too far to the right, and the track was really dirty. I locked up, and it was too late to go right, so I ended up in the wall. It wasn’t the best start to the weekend, but I still had a lot of confidence in the car, so there weren’t any problems.” – he pointed out – “When FP2 started, there was an issue with the car, which we worked on once I got back to the garage. It had nothing to do with the earlier crash, so the mechanics did a great job. It was a new part that we had just installed.”
“I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it gave me a very strange feeling with the steering wheel. We changed it, went back out, and everything was fine. I didn’t do as many laps as I hoped to this Friday, but we were competitive.”
Coming off three consecutive poles at Baku, Charles Leclerc seems well-positioned to aim for a big result tomorrow, although the SF24 has shown to be more competitive in the race than in qualifying.
For the Monegasque, it will also be crucial to have a smooth third free practice session to make up for lost time today and prepare the qualifying lap as best as possible: “It’s one of the tracks I like, and we’ve been quite fast here in the past, but that doesn’t mean it will be the same tomorrow. We still have work to do on the car. There’s a lot to improve, but we’re quick, and that’s a good sign. Hopefully, tomorrow we can do something more.” – Charles Leclerc concluded at the end of Friday practice in Azerbaijan.
Source: f1ingenerale
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