Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari “are not in a bad place” for the Las Vegas Grand Prix despite a mixed day of running in the opening two practice sessions.
The Monegasque finished the opening one-hour session fastest and was third quickest in a disrupted second session, less than two-tenths slower than pacesetter Lando Norris despite not setting his best lap on the soft tyre due to a late red flag.
But once the session resumed in the final minutes, the Ferrari driver was forced to pull off the circuit due to a gearbox issue and was called to the stewards for a breach of regulations concerning the re-attaching of his steering wheel and ERS deployment – although they ultimately ruled that no further action was warranted.
“The steering wheel was back on, there was a bit of a misunderstanding in everything that happened. It will be all fine I think,” said Leclerc before the verdict was handed down.
“I think honestly we are not in a bad place but we need to wait and see. I think Mercedes is very strong and McLaren and Red Bull are obviously in the fight so I think it’s going to be tight.
“I just hope we can build from now and be in the fight for pole tomorrow but it’s been a positive Friday. I think the pace was strong today.
“It’s all about trying to anticipate what the conditions of tomorrow will be like and make sure that we start on the right foot tomorrow, but I have pretty clear ideas of what I want to do with the car to try and improve it.”
Team mate Lewis Hamilton was also optimistic about his chances this weekend, having been encouraged by his pace in practice, which was clouded by being unable to complete a representative lap time because of the stoppages and cautions.
“It felt pretty decent. FP1 generally felt good, I just didn’t get a lap in and the same thing in FP2,” said Hamilton, who finished P10 and P11 in the sessions.
“We improved the car in FP2 and I finished strong in sector 1, same as I was in FP1 but yellow flags and the red flag just got in my way unfortunately but everyone is in the same boat. But I got some good learnings out there and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
