Ferrari coming off from a tough 1000th Grand Prix weekend at Mugello to Russsian GP. It will be the first race of Next 1000 for famous Prancing Horse. But their SF1000 is struggling for pace all season long so far.
After a long time, Ferrari drivers had better Friday here in Sochi.Both Drivers managed to complete 33 Laps in the Frist Practice session, Sebastian Vettel comes home in P9 with a 1:36.323 lap ,while Charles Leclerc managed P11 with a 1:36.896.
In Practice 2,both drivers completed 35 laps each and both drivers able to finish the session in top-10.Charles Leclerc clocks fastest lap of 1:35.052,which is good for P8,his teammate Aston Martin bound Sebastian Vettel comes home in P10 with a fastest lap time of 1:35.183.
One thing that Friday timings reveals us is Mercedes drivers are in league of their own and the pack is pretty close behind them. If Ferrari can find more time for Saturday qualifying, they can aim for some good points finish on Sunday.
What Drivers say about Friday session?
Sebastian Vettel
“This was not such a bad Friday and our car seemed to perform a bit better than in recent races. There is still room to improve and find more lap time. However, leaving aside the top two in the standings, you can see this was a decent day for us.
Qualifying will be very tight tomorrow and it is not easy to put everything together on one lap. Therefore, it will be very important to put in clean laps without any mistakes and with everything running smoothly.”
winning or not Seb always has fans backing…definitely Vettel’s fan base is one of the best in the World. Imagine how fans would feel if Vettel interact with them via social media platforms.
Sebastian talking about new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali
Charles Leclerc
“We struggled quite a bit today, but our lap times were better than we expected. The main thing we have to focus on is the balance, because I think there’s room to improve both in terms of performance and drivability.
At this track, it is a completely different situation from qualifying to the race and this makes it very difficult to find the right setup. We have plenty of work to do for tomorrow.”
Mattia Binotto Team Principal
“This is an important day for our sport, with the announcement from Liberty Media that Stefano Domenicali will take on the role of President and CEO of Formula 1. On behalf of Ferrari, I would first like to thank Chase Carey. There have been many positive changes made to the sport under his leadership, in particular the promoter’s relationship with the teams. Very important decisions have been taken concerning the future of Formula 1, such as the new Concorde Agreement and the creation of an operational structure that will help the sport grow in terms of its audience and its appeal to the youngers generations. And let’s not forget that Formula 1 has managed to put on a World Championship this year under very difficult circumstances. We very much appreciate the fact that continuity is assured as Chase stays on as the non-executive Chairman of Formula 1.
We are very pleased that Chase’s role will be entrusted to Stefano as from 1st January. His talents as a manager and especially his knowledge of the sport, combined with his experience and personal qualities, make him the ideal choice to carry on Chase’s reforms. Personally, it will be a pleasure for me to work with a good friend, as we came through the ranks at Ferrari together. I look forward to working along with all the other stakeholders in this sport and with him to make Formula 1 even stronger and more spectacular.”
