F1, GP Monaco 2024, Charles Leclerc: “I feel really comfortable and I will give everything to aim for the best result tomorrow” – Formula 1

The first day on the track dedicated to free practice for the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix is ​​coming to an end. Home hero Charles Leclerc set the best time in FP2. Here are his words and expectations for the rest of the weekend

May 24, 2024

Lto Formula 1 he runs fast, there is no doubt about this, especially if we consider that only a week ago the curtain was falling on the first day on the track at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola. Only seven days later we find ourselves in Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix 2024, eighth appointment of the season. It will be a special weekend for Charles Leclerc being his home race and in which he hopes to definitively break his “curse” that you have never seen him on the podium since his debut in motorsport, starting from the preparatory formulas. The Monegasque finished fifth in the first free practice session, where he suffered some damage to the floor that was fortunately resolved, and then set the pace in FP2.

THEThe weekend of your home Grand Prix has a completely different flavour, special because the desire to celebrate in front of your compatriots, and in your case also in front of HSH Prince Albert of Monaco, is an occasion that Charles Leclerc has been chasing since his debut in the world of FIA motorsport, from the preparatory formulas to Formula 1. However, on the Scuderia Ferrari there seems to be a sort of “curse”, if we want to call it that, as he managed to complete only two races in Monte Carlo without problems, technical or strategic, in his career. The hope for number #16, who won the virtual edition of the Monaco GP organized by EA SPORTS F1, is able to bring home a good weekend and up to this point he has definitely succeeded.

CWith the package of upgrades brought to Imola last week for the SF-24, Leclerc produced solid performances in both the first and second free practice simulation sessions. In FP1 he concluded with the fifth tempor, however, remedying a damage to the bottom when passing over debris left on the track at Sainte Devote by Zhou Guanyu’s car. The Maranello team managed to repair the bottom promptly without having to resort to substitution and allowing the Monegasque to take part in the FP2where he created the best time of the day of 1:11:278, falling below last year’s pole position time, 1:11.365, set by Max Verstappen. During the second session, number #16 also gave his fans a scare by causing a yellow flag going long at the first cornerbut avoiding impacts and returning to the track without problems.

“It really seems like our car is fine on this track because today I felt really comfortable” He admitted Charles Leclerc. “We have to maintain this pace tomorrow too starting from free practice: looking at the times today, perhaps I pushed a little more than others but the goal for me was to put myself in a position to face qualifying with the right confidence and I already know that tomorrow will be different because everyone will push to the limit. Overall we did a good job but we have to stay focused on ourselves. It was wonderful to find myself once again riding on my home roads and feeling all this support. Tomorrow we will give everything to aim for a great result” concluded the Scuderi Ferrari driver.

MWhile on one side of the Ferrari garage the enthusiasm, but above all the hopes, are sky high, on the other the situation is quite different. Carlos Sainz has not yet found the right feeling with the SF-24 to graze the close walls of the Principality of Monaco trackand in fact he only achieved tenth in FP1 and sixth in FP2. “Mine was a bit of a complicated Friday. I struggled to find consistent behavior in the car and had to try various set-up solutions. At the end of the second session I felt much better and the long run was positive. We want to maintain these good feelings and prepare well for tomorrow’s qualifying” commented the Scuderia’s Madrid native.