‘One of the worst feelings’ for Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc has described his Ferrari SF-26 as slow on straights with a terrible feeling in corners following Friday practice at Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc were sixth- and seventh-fastest in Free Practice 2, respectively 0.45s and 0.72s slower than pacesetter Kimi Antonelli in his Silver Arrow, which is unusual compared to the Scuderia’s typical Friday pace.

“It’s been a very, very difficult Friday,” said Leclerc, who ceded his car to Ferrari protege Dino Beganovic in FP1 and was impeded by Ferrari academy graduate Rafael Camara in FP2.

“The feeling was just very poor inside the car, so we’ve got a lot of work to do – and probably more than other weekends – to change quite a lot the car from today to tomorrow. It just felt quite strange, in a way. Lots of changes to be made.

“We were losing for sure in the straights, but the car in the corners just felt probably one of the worst Friday feelings of the season. So there’s a lot to be found in corners, more than in the straights, where we know we have a deficit. But normally we are very fast in corners and today it was not the case.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Asked whether set-up tweaks could get the SF-26 back into the right window or if Ferrari was in for an unexpectedly difficult weekend, Leclerc responded: “Well, I don’t have the answer yet. I’ve got quite a lot of ideas on what to change and I think there will be significant changes going into tomorrow.

“Whether that will be enough… the issues we had today were quite big, but there’s no reason why we will struggle so much more on a track like this. So we need to find a solution.”

Team principal Fred Vasseur admitted to “a couple of issues” and “a lot of work” ahead, but was more optimistic than Leclerc as to Ferrari’s chances in the remainder of the weekend.

“A lot to do on the balance,” the Frenchman said. “Drivers, they were not happy. Charles didn’t do FP1 this morning. We had a couple of issues today and a lot of work to prepare tomorrow. On the top, the weather forecast tomorrow and Sunday is so-so, it means that we have to be prepared to all the conditions. But I’m not less optimistic than last week.”

Questioned about Leclerc’s radio messages regarding potential engine trouble, Vasseur clarified: “A couple of times we had a deployment issue in the laps. We have to fine-tune everything. On his fastest lap, he lost a couple of tenths in a straight line.

“I would say that it’s not a drama, it’s more for you to be focused on page one [of the timesheet], but we are not. We know that we have a lot to do on the balance. The balance was not good, not great. The tarmac is the opposite of one week ago. It’s creating a lot of work to do and a difference compared to last week.”

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

Photo by: Anni Graf – Formula 1 via Getty Images

The main topic surrounding Ferrari, however, has been the drivers’ latest clash on lap one of the Mexican Grand Prix, which may have cost them victory.

A meeting took place on Thursday evening to set things straight, but when asked about it, Leclerc was elusive.

“It was really good to just discuss all together,” the Monegasque said. “Obviously, for me, it’s been a bit of a crazy week and positively because I became a father for the first time, so we didn’t necessarily have time to discuss.

“Discussing always is whatever is left or whatever frustration is left, and that was needed. Now I feel it’s fully settled and I don’t think we should be speaking about it too much going forward.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team