Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc admits that his Free Follow 2 working for the Singapore Grand Prix, which included a weird pit lane collision with Lando Norris, was “very messy” however he believes “the tempo is within the automobile”.
Leclerc completed second quickest within the opening hour of apply on the streets of Baku, simply over one-tenth slower than Fernando Alonso, however struggled in FP2 and was left solely ninth, greater than seven-tenths away from Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc believed that various elements contributed to this, together with site visitors and two stoppages after crashes for George Russell and Liam Lawson.
“Good FP1, very troublesome FP2. It has been only a very messy FP2 with the site visitors and with the crimson flags and with the pit lane incident,” mentioned Leclerc.
“A number of issues happening which have not been very constructive however we’ll reset and are available again stronger tomorrow. I believe the tempo is within the automobile in order that’s the nice factor.”
Leclerc suffered the weird collision with Norris because the session resumed following the second crimson flag and with quarter-hour remaining, because the McLaren driver was set free of his storage earlier than Leclerc was despatched into his path within the quick lane.
Leclerc continued unhurt whereas Norris, who had hit the pit wall, was dragged again for a alternative entrance wing earlier than resuming, with Ferrari fined €10,000 for the unsafe release.
“Talking with him [mechanic] I believe it was a little bit of confusion with the 2 McLarens going out and it seemed like they have been going out on the similar time,” mentioned Leclerc.
“So he thought they might exit a bit slower so I did not have the message to cease and in these sort of circumstances you sort of depend on the group.
“However this type of factor occurs. It was additionally in a tough second as a result of with all of the crimson flags, everybody was such in a rush to get out to do some laps. It is a mixture of issues, it isn’t one thing you need however these items occur.”
Workforce mate Lewis Hamilton additionally endured a troublesome second session, ending tenth having claimed fourth within the earlier outing, however was constructive concerning the basic course Ferrari had taken on Friday.
“I really feel like there’s a lot of positives to take from as we speak, a lot of learnings and fairly pleased with the progress we have created from session to session,” he mentioned.
“I’ve felt like we made steps ahead as we speak so I really feel like in a single day we can’t change a lot, however in fact attempting to refine the set-up and see if we are able to extract just a little bit extra to get as shut as we are able to to the McLarens.”
