Ferrari, what a start in Las Vegas
On a Friday morning that stirred discussion at Scuderia Ferrari mainly due to what happened to Carlos Sainz in the first free practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix (an innocent victim of a manhole cover and furthermore penalized with a ten-position grid penalty), there was a positive note for the Maranello team: Charles Leclerc was leading the charts with half a second advantage over everyone else, starting with his Maranello teammate in the second free practice session.
The SF-23, with Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz’s Friday double, confirms that Las Vegas suits it very well. The Nevada track, with its long straights, the presence of slow corners, the importance of traction, and the lack of fast corners, enhances the qualities of the Red, hiding its most evident limitations. But will this pace shown today satisfy Leclerc? The Monegasque, wary from past experiences, doesn’t want to get carried away with the potential of being a protagonist in qualifying but is thinking about Sunday’s race and a Max Verstappen who, in his mind, is still the favorite.
Charles Leclerc’s comments
“I like the track; it’s fun to drive. I’ve always liked city circuits, but this one is really nice. For now, it seems that we are quite competitive, but the weekend is still long: it’s hard to say where we are in terms of race pace, but as far as the single lap is concerned, we seem strong. We’re still working and trying to progress for tomorrow. We have very tight times; we’ll work hard to maintain this form,” these are his words. “Competing with Red Bull? I don’t know; in qualifying, as usual, we’ll be there; in the race, I think they are still too strong, Max has had a great pace.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out.
“It was a very different day than usual. The first two laps were very poor with grip, but then the dirt disappeared, and there was ‘reasonable’ grip. With Free Practice 1 completed after just four laps, we had to cover as many kilometers as possible in the second session, in which we had 90 minutes and could use four sets of tires. The session was productive because we managed to complete a good number of laps, and I enjoyed driving on this track.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded.
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