Charles Leclerc is confident Ferrari will be “in the mix” despite clouting the barrier in Practice 2 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Though the Bahrain race winner was fastest in both sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Friday, closest rival Max Verstappen failed to get a clean lap and was still only a tenth behind on slower tyres in the Red Bull.
Critically, Ferrari also failed to do a race simulation with either car at the end of evening practice after both Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz made contact with the wall.
“It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise good day,” the Monegasque told the Ferrari website.
Oh dear!! ?
Leclerc hits the wall with his left wheel & has been forced to box ? pic.twitter.com/ZWTfznd2xF
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 25, 2022
“In FP2 it was a small mistake, but not one that makes me lose confidence. I expected the front to slide around more and I clipped the inside wall at Turn 4.
“Focusing on tomorrow, I think the pace is there,” Leclerc added. “It’s a bit of a shame we couldn’t get the high fuel laps done, but we should be in the mix for tomorrow.”
Sainz had his moment exiting the banked Turn 13, later admitting Ferrari was still learning how to optimise the F1-75 to the high-speed Jeddah layout.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do the long run at the end of FP2 after I brushed the wall and we had to stay in the garage,” he explained.
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“As expected these cars are behaving differently here in Jeddah compared to Bahrain and we keep learning more about how to set up the car for different conditions and corners.
“Porpoising was a bit of an issue at a certain point but I’m not concerned. As last year, understanding which is the best tyre for the race is important for the strategy.”
