Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has warned the Maranello team has to focus on improving its tyre management after Friday practice for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The Ferrari driver finished both practice sessions on Friday in first place but just as was the case at the Miami International Autodrome, Ferrari looks to be at a disadvantaged as compared to Red Bull when it comes to tyre degradation. Charles Leclerc complained of his medium tyres “falling to pieces” after just eight laps during his race pace simulation at the Circuit de Catalunya.
While the race pace does not look great for the moment, the qualifying pace seems very strong for the F1-75 cars, but the Monégasque remains concerned by the high degradation on Friday:
“Our qualifying runs don’t look bad, but we have some work to do, in particular on our race pace and on tyre management,” said Charles Leclerc – “The stints we did on the soft compound felt better than those on the mediums. We will analyse our latest data to find where we can improve on this track, as the conditions are very different to the last time we were here during winter testing.” – he explained.
As it stands, we put you on pole & perhaps a similar scenario with Max jumping you, is that your fear at the moment?
Charles Leclerc: “I don’t want to call that a fear but let’s say it is definitely the priority to work on that and to get better because atm we are just not strong in the race pace.”
