Bahrain GP: Vettel, Leclerc Post- Friday Practice comments

Two weeks back Ferrari had best race weekend in Turkish Grand Prix, team scored 27 points on the back of Sebastian Vettel’s first podium of 2020 season. They looking to build on that momentum to mount series challenge for P3 in Constructor’s championship. But Ferrari main weakness, lack power will punish them in Bahrain for next two race weekends.

Both Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc struggled during Friday practice sessions with lack of balance in SF1000. Charles Leclerc was quickest Ferrari in FP1 with a 1.30:589 lap time while Sebastian Vettel clocked 1.30:628, the pair finished the session P11 & P12 respectively.

FP2 started under the lights, this time around Sebastian Vettel was quickest Ferrari on the track with a 1.30:110 lap time, while Charles Leclerc clocks in 1.30:407 having made a mistake at the last corner. They finish the session in P12 & P14 respectively.

Like other teams Ferrari were given opportunity to test 2021 tyres by Pirelli during Friday Practice sessions, but four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel is not amused with the new rubber performances.

Sebastian Vettel

“Today in the first session the sun was still up while in the second one it was night time, however, maybe because of the time of year, there was definitely less difference between the sessions compared to the previous years. I think that the Sakhir track does not suit us as well as it has done in the past, but we still have a little bit to improve and work on, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

Looking ahead to Sunday, we know the track is tough on tyres and so it is difficult to make them last, but it will be the same for everybody. It is yet not clear which tyres will work best, and therefore how many stops we will need. But first we must focus on quali and then we will see for the race. While it’s true the point are only given out at the end of the race, the higher up the grid you start, the better your chances, as you have more options in terms of strategy and tyre management.”

Charles Leclerc

“It’s been a difficult first day. I was expecting to do a bit better because traditionally this is has been very strong track for the team in the past few years, but today, we seemed to struggle quite a bit more. But we are usually pretty good at fixing the issues overnight, so hopefully we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.

I think it’s pretty clear what we need to do to improve. It’s just the balance really, as through the corners it’s very tricky and it’s quite difficult to manage the car and I made a few mistakes. The times are all extremely close, so any gains we make can result in a big difference.”