After Ferrari's worst weekend of the season to date with a double DNF in Montreal, Charles Leclerc is aiming to get things back on track with new upgrades for the SF-24 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
But things didn't go entirely according to plan for the Monegasque on Friday which saw him finish practice in sixth place, while his team mate Carlos Sainz was second quickest just 0.022s behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
"Overall a tricky day on my side," said Leclerc after the end of FP2. "We struggled quite a bit with the balance of the car, so set-up work will be our main focus ahead of tomorrow.
“I think it was a very difficult FP1 for everybody," he suggested. "First of all because of the conditions - it was extremely warm which makes those cars very difficult to drive with the overheating.
“Second, I think we were a bit out of place with the balance. Third, I didn’t have the upgrade at first, because we wanted to compare both cars. So all in all it was quite a difficult session on my side.
"We ran a new package in FP2," he continued. I found the feeling again in the end and put everything together, but still quite a bit of pace to find. We still have lots of work to do as I am not fully comfortable yet.
“Overall, a bit of a difficult Friday for me," he acknowledged. "But I know where to find the lap time so I’m not too worried for tomorrow.
“I have a very clear vision on what we have to do on the car to make it better, and I’m confident tomorrow we will do a step forward,”
Meanwhile Sainz is hoping for success in his last home race as a Ferrari driver. Although he's performed well in the Spanish GP in the past his best result in the race up to now has been fourth, so a podium is very much the objective.
"We struggled a bit in both sessions to get the right balance on the car, but I think everyone had similar issues today," he said. "As always here in Barcelona when the sun is up and the track changes quite quickly.
"We struggled a bit in both sessions to get the right balance on the car," he explained. "Overall I’m reasonably happy with the car, but we have work to do, especially race pace-wise.
"I think over one lap we are reasonably okay," he insisted. “Over a long run we seemed to struggle a bit more, a bit like we did last year here. So let’s see if we can put together a better package for Sunday.
As for the latest upgrades direct from Maranello, Sainz said he was “happy” with the boost in performance and that the new parts seemed to be working well. But the biggest boost for him on Friday came from the grandstands.
"What I really enjoyed today was the atmosphere at the track. Thank you to all the fans for their support. I’m looking forward to putting on a good show tomorrow!"
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