Charles Leclerc: “There is still quite a bit of room for improvement”

Charles Leclerc reflected on a ‘solid’ first day of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend on Friday, with the Scuderia Ferrari driver ending the afternoon with the fastest overall time.

Leclerc, who sits second in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Drivers’ standings heading into the weekend at the Baku City Circuit, ended second fastest behind Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez in the opening session before taking over at the top in the second.

Despite leading the way, Leclerc believes there is still plenty of time to find, with the Monegasque racer believing no one was able to put a completely clean lap together.

“We had a solid first day,” said Leclerc.  “The progression we made from FP1 to FP2 was good and we worked well as a team.

“The lap times are not representative, because no one put a proper lap together in the second session. There is still quite a bit of room for improvement.

“Our race pace looked quite strong and I felt good in the car. In terms of tyres, I felt comfortable on the long run and didn’t have any graining, which is another positive.”

“It’s been an interesting Friday, as always here in Baku” – Carlos Sainz Jr.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. was hampered by traffic in the afternoon session, which made the Spaniard end an unrepresentative fifth fastest.

Sainz’s best time was set on the medium Pirelli compound of tyre opposed to the favoured soft compound, which left him a little frustrated.  He was fourth fastest in the morning session despite being presented a few challenges to get through.

Sainz’s biggest concern was the ‘porpoising’ down Baku’s long start and finish straight, which was amongst the most extreme seen so far in 2022 and made for an uncomfortable ride.

“It’s been an interesting Friday, as always here in Baku,” said Sainz.  “There were quite a few challenges during FP1 and I was struggling a bit too much with the bottoming and the bouncing, which made the session quite uncomfortable.

“We worked in the right direction for FP2, improving competitiveness and feeling. Overall, it was a smooth second session despite not being able to close an entire flying lap on the Softs due to yellow flags.

“We look forward to making another step forward tomorrow and having a clean qualifying.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. encountered traffic in second practice during his soft tyre runs – Credit: Mark Sutton / LAT Images, courtesy of Pirelli