Leclerc Quick but Sainz Crash Ruins Competitive-looking Day for Ferrari in Miami

Charles Leclerc was pleased with his opening days work in Miami, with the Monegasque racer finishing inside the top two in both free practice sessions on Friday.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver, the current leader in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Drivers’ standings heading into the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, ended fastest in the morning session on Friday, and was a close second to George Russell in the afternoon.

Leclerc says everything went to plan on his side of the garage, and he is expecting an exciting weekend around a track that will likely be aggressive on the Pirelli tyres.

“It was a good day,” said Leclerc. “We focused on building up our pace little by little and learned quite a bit about this new track. It is challenging and really nice to drive, with my favourite part being the one from turn 11 to turn 16 in the second sector.

“Things went smoothly on our side and we tested everything we planned to. It looks like everyone is close together, which should make for an exciting weekend.

“The asphalt will spice things up. There is very high grip on the racing line and very low grip off it, which will make it difficult to overtake. It is also rather aggressive on tyres, so it will be important to manage them well throughout the race.”

“Obviously not the best way to start the weekend” – Carlos Sainz Jr.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr.’s day was far less straightforward, with his afternoon session being halted by a crash at turn fourteenth that left the left side of his F1-75 with a lot of damage.

The Spaniard had been fastest at the time of his crash, but his session was over as a result of the crash, his third incidents in as many race weekends after issues in both the Australian and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekends.

Sainz says he is confident that the pace is there with the car this weekend in Miami, but he apologised to his mechanics for giving them more work to do ahead of Saturdays running.

“Obviously not the best way to start the weekend after a costly snap ended our Friday early,” said Sainz.  “Still, I feel the car was competitive and I have confidence in our performance.

“It’s pointless to dwell on today, so we’ll put our full focus on tomorrow and the race.  The extra work for the mechanics is the worst part, so I’ll definitely speak to them and the rest of the team. I look forward to tomorrow.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered a crash in second practice – Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre