2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: Leclerc Pleased with Friday Practice

Charles Leclerc is pleased with Scuderia Ferrari’s Friday practice as they gear up for qualifying around the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.

Ferrari and Leclerc led the way in both Free Practice sessions on Friday, and it appears they will be challenging McLaren F1 Team for the victory this weekend with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen in particular having issues in both short and long runs.

Red Bull could turn things round but as things stand, Ferrari go into the weekend as favourites in front of their home crowd. Ferrari have introduced a range of updates this weekend too, and when Leclerc was asked about the impact they’ve had so far, he was pleased.

“The feeling with the car is quite good, the upgrades on the car are working as expected which also is a good step. And yeah, it’s been a very smooth day so it is great, and being at home is always a special feeling for Ferrari, being here and having so much support all over the track means so much for all of us.

“It will be great if the weekend continues in that direction. However, tomorrow the conditions will change massively. The wind will completely turn around, which will have a big effect on all the cars, and there we have to be the best at anticipating those changes.”

Leclerc has demanded that the team manage expectations going into Saturday, and make sure they do a good job in qualifying with the field spread so close.

“We need to keep our feet on the ground, because tomorrow is going to be big changes with the track conditions.

“Track position here is absolutely everything, so qualifying will be super important and it will be important for us to do the job in qualifying. So there is still a lot of work for to do, and we will give it our all to have a great qualifying tomorrow.”