Ferrari started to understand SF1000 better last few races, after disappointing start to 2020 season.With 6th race of the season set to feature at circuit de barcelona-catalunya, where teams participated in two pre-season testing gives Ferrari the better opportunity to validate how SF1000 evolved so far, since their early season struggles.
Both Ferrari drivers had a strong outing on Friday as they completed 125 laps of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, covering the equivalent of almost a race distance each. And Ferrari stated that, The planned program for both SF1000s was completed and the team has plenty of data to prepare for the race and for tomorrow’s qualifying.
In the morning Free Practice 1 session, both drivers set their best time on Soft’s and both completed 27 laps each. Charles finished session in P3 with a 1’17”970 and Sebastian Vettel, who is running new chassis on his SF1000 finished session in P4 with a 1’17”981.
Track temperature for the second free practice session almost hit the 50 degree mark and so, despite it being more rubbered-in, neither of the drivers managed to improve on their previous best time. Charles and Sebastian covering 71 laps in total: 35 for the former and 36 for the latter and they finished session in P6 and P12 respectively. Charles best time for the session, 1’18”147 was set on softs and Vettel’s best time for the session, 1’18”404 also set on the softs.
Drivers Reaction after Friday Practice sessions
Charles Leclerc #16
“It has been quite a good day, once again better than expected, which is positive. Our quali pace was good, even though there’s still some work to do here and there to improve, so I am confident we can extract the maximum out of the car in quali and if I manage to get the balance where I want it to be we can have a pretty good result.
Also, the race simulation we did went fairly well. We have a lot of data on this track from winter testing, but it’s very difficult to compare it with the data we gathered today in such different conditions. With regards to the heat, out on track is not that hard because at least there’s some air, but when you are in the garage it’s like being in a sauna!”
Sebastian Vettel #5
“It was a mixed day: I was reasonably happy in terms of our one lap pace, even if in the afternoon I struggled a bit more to put the laps together. However generally I have a better feeling with the car. Today we tried a few things and we have learned some things we can use tomorrow. Let’s see where we are after quali.
In terms of race pace we should be quite okay, but obviously there is still some work to do. In particular, managing the tyres will be key and with the high temperatures expected to continue, this will be far from easy.”
