Despite a lap that is still not perfect, the Monegasque is enjoying the return to the front row that has been missing since Jeddah. A mistake in the last corner nullifies Sainz’s good day
May 4 – 00:56 – MILAN
It seemed like a weekend destined to be immediately uphill but instead Ferrari emerged with a half smile from the sprint qualifying in Miami. After the mistake in Free Practice 1 which eliminated him from the match after a couple of laps, Charles Leclerc instead he found a good feeling with the SF-24, regaining a front row that he had been missing since Q3 in Jeddah. Not without some small flaws: indeed, there is always that first sector which is a bit problematic (this time Charles had two indecisions in the first two corners), which is almost a constant to indicate how the red, awaiting the updates arriving in Imola, you still have some difficulty warming up the softer tires perfectly.
LECLERC SATISFIED
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Despite the imperfections, Leclerc is still very satisfied with the front row: “Qualifying was my weak point for two races in a row and even though I did a little better in China I didn’t have the car to prove it. It was difficult, because I only did one lap in free practice before having to push hard in qualifying, but I found the feeling straight away. The hard work I put in to get the tires in the right operating window paid off for him. I’m happy because you are always evaluated for the last race in this sport and, when two qualifications in a row don’t go well, people start talking even if you’ve always done a good job in the past. So it was nice to be able to achieve this result, but now we have to work on consistency, maintain this level and bring the tires into the right window as we had always done before.”
SAINZ’S MISTAKE
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Fewer smiles, however, from Carlos Sainz’s side: the Spaniard actually made a mistake in braking just as he was approaching the last corner, losing a couple of precious tenths for the final result. “There was a strange change – said the 29-year-old at the end of Sprint Qualifying, which ended with the fifth fastest time – in the behavior of the car from free practice to the first qualifying session. We struggled to find grip and put laps together or sectors within the lap and we will have to look at what happened because I definitely struggled throughout qualifying. When I put the Softs on, I had a good lap but then I made a mistake on the last corner and lost everything. I’m not happy but I hope I can change things tomorrow in qualifying. The Sprint Race? I don’t know, in free practice the sensations were good, but in qualifying not so much. It’s difficult to understand in advance what could happen.”
SPEAK COLD
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To the microphones Sky, team principal Frederic Vasseur reiterated how in Formula 1 a small mistake is really enough to lose several positions on the grid. The perfect example is that of Lando Norris, who seemed to be heading towards pole and instead didn’t go beyond the ninth fastest time: “I don’t know what happened to the McLarens and I prefer to concentrate on my guys, but it’s true that the ranking can change enormously from one compound to another. This time too it was a couple of tenths, as always one or two are enough to go from first to fourth or fifth place. However, Charles improved lap after lap after missing FP1, overall it was a good session.”
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NO COMMENT NEWEY
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“The continuation of the weekend? We don’t have a clear picture – added the French manager – because we haven’t worked on the race pace, but we will take the Sprint as a test for Sunday. I’m happy with the work, without a doubt we didn’t expect Leclerc’s front row and in any case Carlos was also on par with his teammate’s time until the last corner. This means we are in good condition with the soft tyres, but we will see what happens in the race. I think we will have more downforce and maybe even more drag than others.” No official comment, however, on the Newey case: “I don’t want to talk about this thing. He will leave Red Bull, we have to focus on ourselves”.
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