Spanish GP: Post-Friday Practice reaction from Ferrari

With the evidence of first three races, 2021 has been better for Ferrari team compared to 2020 season. The famous Italian team showed improved pace but they are yet to clinch a podium this year.

Ferrari had a solid Friday Practice sessions at Circuit de Catalunya. In FP1, Charles and Carlos were the only drivers to run the Mediums, setting best times of 1.18:996 for the Monegasque (P5) and 1:19.020 for the Spaniard (P6). Leclerc completed 25 laps, while local boy Sainz completed 22 laps.

In the afternoon FP2 session, the team continued working on fine-tuning the balance of the car, before tackling the usual qualifying simulation on Soft tyres. Charles set a 1:18.335 fast lap to clinch P3 in the final standings while Sainz’s fast lap of 1:18.674 was good for P8 on the time sheet. 

Ferrari is expecting tight mid-field battle behind top -2 team during Saturday’s Qualifying and Sunday’s race. So every hundredth could make the difference in deciding the grid positions.

Charles Leclerc

“We had a good, clean day. I’ve changed my approach a little bit since Portimão. After every weekend, I try to analyse where I need to improve. So far, I’m driving a lot better and feel I am in a good place with the car, so I’m quite happy. 

Last year we struggled quite a lot here, and this year the car feels much better. It’s great for the whole team, especially those back at the factory who work so hard and can see it pay off looking at the numbers. It motivates us all.

Tomorrow will be important with qualifying on this track. If there is a nice surprise then that will be welcome, but I think that the objective is to be just behind the front runners.”

Carlos Sainz

“It’s been an encouraging day for us. Right from FP1 we saw the track had quite a lot of grip, which helped with the overall balance of the car.

However, in FP2, the balance went away a bit from what I was looking for, particularly for the last sector. Hopefully we can keep working and digging and put it all together for qualifying tomorrow.

Reaching Q3 won’t be easy, as we expect three or four cars to be in the same tenth, so we need to make sure we are as prepared as possible.”