Charles Leclerc: “The feeling in the car was good”

It was a positive Friday for Scuderia Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. In the first practice session of the day, Carlos Sainz Jr. followed Charles Leclerc in a one-two finish. The second practice followed, and the Spaniard improved his form topping the times at the end of the session.

Ferrari are sporting a limited edition livery this weekend, with some yellow touches to celebrate the origins of the marque with a colour that is very much part of Ferrari’s history. The team will be hoping the livery will change their luck, with only one win in their last five races.

Leclerc was pleased with the team’s start to the weekend, but insisted that their is still work to be done as they look ahead to qualifying later on Saturday.

“The feeling in the car was good. We still haven’t found the sweet spot in terms of balance, but we tried many different things throughout the day and know which direction we want to go in.

“Our race pace looked stronger than our qualifying pace, so if we put it all together there is quite good potential to have a solid weekend.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. – “Overall it has been a positive day”

Team-mate Sainz topped Free Practice Two, and he will be looking to try and bounce back after his eighth-place finish last time out at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Spanish driver looked impressive in the first two sessions, showing consistency throughout. He will be hoping for a trouble free weekend as he looks to make his way through the grid, after receiving a grid penalty for the race due to a number of gearbox and engine components being changed on his car.

“Overall it has been a positive day. We still need to check all the data, but I felt quite comfortable in the car and the package this weekend seems to be working well.

“There is still work to do to try and improve the pace on the long runs, so we’ll look into every detail tonight and try to improve for tomorrow but especially for the race.”