Charles Leclerc was pleased with the improvement Ferrari showed on the first day of practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.
However he said the team will have to keep improving at the same rate to get on terms with Mercedes,“It has been a positive day,” said Leclerc. “The step we have done from FP1 to FP2 has been very good. Now we need to do the same one from FP2 to FP3 and FP3 to quali and then hopefully we can challenge them.”
Leclerc ended the first day of practice with the fastest time but doesn’t think that isn’t reflective of the team’s true position.
“I still believe that Mercedes is very strong,” he said. “I expect it will be very hard to beat them in qualifying.
“So we need to work very hard. We did a good step in terms of performance from FP1 to FP2, the car felt better, but we should do another step to try and hopefully challenge the Mercedes.”
Ferrari’s strong straight-line performance was expected to serve them well on the long straights at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However Mercedes has an advantage on the twistier parts of the track, Leclerc admitted.
“I think it goes together,” he said. “If you are quick in the straights you will be a bit more struggling in the corners. At the moment it’s our compromise and that’s how we work the best. We’ll see if it’s enough.”
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Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th June 2019, 17:36
effectively when Ferrari runs more wing they don’t get enough performance to make up for the increase on drag.
finally a confirmation, they’ve been running shallower rear wings for a long time.