Sainz ‘Positive’ After Friday in France Despite Ten-Place Penalty for Component Change

Carlos Sainz Jr. felt it was a positive Friday at the Circuit Paul Ricard as the topped second practice, but the Spaniard already knows he will drop ten places on the grid for Sunday’s race after engine component changes outside of his allocation.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver retired with a spectacular engine failure and fire in the Austrian Grand Prix last time out, and although the team have been able to fall back on used components elsewhere, they were forced into introducing a third Control Electronics to his car, thus setting off the penalty.

Despite this, Sainz believed the updates brought to France this weekend had been working well, and all his focus going forward will be to set-up the car for Sunday’s race so he can make his way up the order quickly and efficiently.

“It has been a positive day,” said Sainz.  “The updates seem to work well and the car felt good, especially on the flying laps.

“The long runs were a bit more challenging due to the graining. For sure, today’s high temperatures were an important factor to consider, but we need to look carefully into how we can protect the tyres as much as possible.

“Given I’ll take a penalty on Sunday, we now need to focus on preparing the car for the race. There is room for improvement, so we’ll keep digging!”

“We know where we need to improve” – Charles Leclerc

Team-mate Charles Leclerc began the weekend with the quickest time in first practice, and he was only a tenth of a second back on Sainz in the afternoon.

The Monegasque racer, who arrives in France on the back of his third victory of the season two weeks ago in Austria, was positive about Ferrari’s potential on short runs after Friday’s running, and now the focus much switch to finding pace over the longer runs.

Leclerc already feels tyre management will be key on Sunday, particularly with temperatures set to soar, but he is confident that he can be fighting at the front.

“The sessions went quite well today,” said Leclerc.  “Our qualifying pace was pretty good, so our focus now will be on our race pace.

“Tyre management will be key, as the temperatures are so high this weekend. I am confident that we will be all set by the time Sunday comes as we know where we need to improve.”