Charles Leclerc: “It will be key to put the tyres in the right window tomorrow”

Charles Leclerc admitted they used Friday’s two free practice sessions to set-up for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix as rain is predicted to hit the Hungaroring on Saturday.

Despite this focus, the Scuderia Ferrari driver was still able to set the best time of the day, his best lap of 1:18.445 more than two-tenths of a second clear of McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris, while his rival for the World Championship, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, was almost three-tenths back in fourth.

Leclerc admitted track evolution was not as high as expected on Friday, but with the rain set to hit the track for possibly both final practice and Qualifying, it could be an interesting day on Saturday.  And he knows getting Pirelli’s tyres in the right window will be key.

“With weather conditions likely to be variable this weekend, our main focus was on set-up work today,” said Leclerc.  “We did some race simulations too, as we may not have the chance to collect representative data in FP3 tomorrow.

“Though track evolution is always quite high here, it was lower than we expected today. It will be key to put the tyres in the right window tomorrow.”

“The car felt very good straight out of the garage” – Carlos Sainz Jr.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. also enjoyed a good day in Hungary on Friday, with the Spaniard topping first practice before slipping into third in the second.

Sainz admitted Ferrari went the wrong way with its set-up changes in the second session as he did not feel as comfortable behind the wheel as he did in the first, but overall, he is pleased with the balance and pace of the car.

“It has been an interesting Friday,” said Sainz.  “The car felt very good straight out of the garage in FP1 and we could put together some very good laps.

“For FP2 we tried a couple of changes in the set-up to evaluate which direction is best to take for tomorrow and the race. We lost the feeling a bit, but we are in a good place in terms of car balance and pace.

“It looks like tomorrow might be wet, so we’ll have to adapt to the conditions. Today was a positive day for the team and I look forward to the rest of the weekend.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. topped first practice but slipped to third in the second – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd