F1 | Dutch GP | Ferrari focusing on improving race pace, after topping FP2
A good start for Ferrari, who still has room for improvement, after a red flag filled Friday.
The weekend started off nicely for Scuderia Ferrari in Zandvoort. At the renewed track that made its come back after a 36-year long absence, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc ended FP1 respectively in 3rd and 4th positions. After trying both soft and hard tyres during the morning session, they started FP2 on mediums. Later on, they both switched to the softest compound to do a qualifying simulation, that ended with the Monegasque setting the quickest time: 1’10”902. Second quickest was his teammate, who closed the lap in 1’11”056.
“I think there is still quite a bit of potential for us to improve. It is looking good for now, but we shouldn’t get carried away because it’s just Friday and I feel our competitors have a bit of performance still to reveal,” commented Leclerc at the end of this first day of track action.
“I really enjoyed driving on the new Zandvoort. The banking feels very special on the first timed lap and it’s just overall a fun track to drive on.”
Focus is on getting the most out of tomorrow’s qualifying and on improving the race pace.
“ Then for the race, I don’t think there will be much overtaking so it will be important to secure a good grid position tomorrow. Our race pace was not as good as the single lap performance so we will be focusing on that.”
Job done! 👌 @Charles_Leclerc P1 and @CarlosSainz55 P2 in #FP2 🤩#essereFerrari 🔴 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/1qc7FxhEWQ
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 3, 2021
Sainz also appears to have enjoyed the Friday action ahead of the Dutch GP.
“It’s an impressive and different track compared to what we are used to. It was fun to try different lines in FP1 around the banking corners and to push a bit more in FP2. I enjoyed myself out there today and the atmosphere with the fans close to the track is great,” he said.
“In terms of performance, we felt confident straight away with the car balance and with the car performance. We managed to do some decent running on soft tyres, whereas other competitive cars were caught out by the flags, so that’s maybe why we look so good on the time sheet. For sure we have room to improve, but still the car felt good and it was a positive Friday for us.”
