Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc brushed off the misfortune which caused him to end his Friday practice early in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, despite the fact that Charles finished FP2 with the fastest lap.
The Ferrari driver had been quickest of anyone in the unrepresentative daytime conditions of FP1 with a time of 1:30.772s. The cooler night time conditions saw him further improve a best lap time of 1:30.074s.
However in the final stages of the second practice session he unfortunately clipped the inside barrier at the apex of corner 4 and damaged his suspension, having to return to the pits and end Friday practice with 20 minutes to go, without being able to complete the long run simulation.
“It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise good day,” he said later. “In FP2 it was a small mistake, but not one that makes me lose confidence. I expected the front to slide around more and I clipped the inside wall at turn 4. Focusing on tomorrow, I think the pace is there. It’s a bit of a shame we couldn’t get the high fuel laps done, but we should be in the mix for tomorrow.” – the Monegasque driver explained at the end of the season practice session in Saudi Arabia.
His Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz also had a good Friday at the Jeddah CornicheC ircuit, improving from fourth on the timesheets in first practice to third in the evening, just a tenth slower than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
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