After the strong performance of their team at the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend, Ferrari fans at the Red Bull Ring are hoping for more of them this Sunday. And Charles Leclerc says they should maintain that optimism despite his low 16th place in training two as his teammate Carlos is also way outside the top ten.
Since the current soccer tournament EM 2020 is still very much remembered by many drivers, Friday was definitely a game with two halves for Ferrari. They only finished second in FP1 behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, as the teams got used to the softer tire distribution for the second part of the Austrian double-headed ball, but then slumped to P13 and P16 in FP2.
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However, Leclerc insisted that the second training times were not representative: “There is still a lot to be done to understand this C5.” [tyre] – it’s the first time we use it [here] and I think we are not at the top for them to work in the optimal situation.
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“So we still have to work on it, but overall it was a pretty good day – our race pace is still as good as it was last week and we are still working on our qualifying pace …
“We haven’t found the small step that we need to get a little further up, but we are working on it and we will hopefully find it overnight.”
Charles Leclerc: “Our racing pace is still as strong as last week”
The cooler temperatures in Spielberg, coupled with the softer Pirelli rubber, had raised the question of whether Ferrari would have to struggle with tires again here, as they had in France at the start of this triple header – and Sainz admitted that he did I was shocked at how things felt compared to last weekend on the same track.
“We basically put a very similar car on the track as last week and everything feels different, which shows how complex these Formula 1 cars are,” said the Spaniard. “Small changes to the wing, slight changes in the condition of the track give him the feeling of having a completely different car.”
Carlos Sainz: “Don’t panic” after a disappointing FP2 in Austria
But like Leclerc, Sainz did not believe that they had let their Styrian racing pace down …
“I think we have a very similar picture [to last weekend]. I think qualifying, just because of the time you spend at full throttle on this track, even if we are really good through the corners – what we are – according to simple statistics and simple numbers, with 80 percent of the lap at full throttle, we will always lag a little behind.
“Then comes the race, when you fight a lot more for grip in the corners and the tires don’t have that much grip, then hopefully our car will come to life and we can still move forward.”
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