Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc immediately looked quick here at the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday, but cautioned that he and his team feel as though there are still things that they want to work on further.
The Scuderia are eager to get back to winning ways this weekend after seeing Red Bull win the last two Grands Prix, and the Sprint event at Imola too.
Indeed, it really is nip and tuck between the Ferraris and Red Bulls at the moment and this weekend could well be another battle between the two, though Mercedes looked rather strong on Friday as well.
That said, it was Leclerc who was top of the timesheets for both FP1 and FP2 yesterday afternoon in Barcelona, but the Monegasque feels as though race pace and tyre management need looking at by the team.
Speaking to the team’s media on Friday, Leclerc said:
“Our qualifying runs don’t look bad, but we have some work to do, in particular on our race pace and on tyre management. The stints we did on the soft compound felt better than those on the mediums. Tonight, we will analyse our latest data to find where we can improve on this track, as the conditions are very different to the last time we were here during winter testing.”
Conditions certainly are different with it around 10 degrees warmer now than it was in pre-season.
Race pace is crucial, too, as that is what ultimately gets you points and victories and it’s Red Bull that have had better race pace than Ferrari in recent weeks.
Leclerc’s clearly aware of that, and we’ll have to see how the rest of his weekend plays out as he bids to add to his lead in the Drivers’ standings.
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