Leclerc 'could have been quickest of all' on Friday

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Charles Leclerc felt that he could have been the fastest of anyone on Friday in free practice for this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, but instead the Ferrari driver concluded his day fifth overall and in the wall!

"I was pleased with my quick lap," the Ferrari driver said after the end of the two one-hour sessions. "The time that was cancelled because of a couple of centimetres would have been quickest overall.

"Even over a long run I think we have found a good balance," he added. "The car is quick, the balance is good and I felt at ease immediately

Read also: Bottas and Hamilton stay on top in FP2 as Verstappen sidelined

Leclerc did suffer an accident that came just before the end of FP2 that saw him go off and run into the barriers at Rivazza 2. He accepted that it had been his fault.

"This afternoon I made a mistake while pushing flat out in race trim. I’m sorry for the guys, but at least there were only two minutes to go," he said.

"This was definitely a good day, despite the time lost in the first session and the incident just at the end of the second one," he insisted.

"The track is really great and I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow for qualifying, when I think a good result can be within our grasp."

Even so, he acknowledged that it was too soon to get excited about what the team could achieve in the race. "Of course, it’s only tomorrow that we will find out the pecking order, because maybe someone hasn’t shown their full potential."

Leclerc ended the day behind his new team mate Carlos Sainz, who is still getting to know his new team and car after moving over from McLaren during he off-season.

"It was an important day for me as I was looking forward to driving the car for the first time somewhere other than Bahrain!" he said. "The different corners, tarmac, temperatures, etc. made it an interesting day.

"It seems we could be a bit more competitive this weekend," he mused. "In general the feeling with the car was positive as the conditions suit us better.

"You can feel some more grip and I am enjoying it out there, building up the confidence lap by lap trying to find the limit around the entire track.

"I’m not quite there yet, but today was a good start to the weekend and we still have FP3 to fine tune everything ahead of qualifying tomorrow."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.