The performance of Leclerc on Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix is inspiring and indicative of the capabilities of the Ferrari SF24 on street circuits. However, the real test begins with Qualifying, where securing P1 on the grid is crucial, especially at this location – Leclerc’s hometown – where he is more familiar with the streets than the track itself. Unfortunately, the Monaco circuit has not been kind to him in the past.
After a successful Friday, Leclerc expressed his satisfaction, having led FP2 with a record lap time of 1:11.278s. He acknowledged the strength of the car with the medium tires, but admitted to struggling with the soft compound due to heavy traffic. Overall, he feels confident in the car’s performance and hopes to maintain that momentum in FP3. However, he recognizes the importance of tomorrow’s qualifying session, where everyone will push to the limit.
Despite a pole position in 2022, Leclerc’s previous races in Monaco have been disappointing. In 2021, he had a challenging race and finished P4, which is still his best result at home. Last year, he started and finished in P6. This year, Leclerc believes anything is possible, considering the favorable characteristics of the car on this unique track. However, he acknowledges that Mercedes has shown improved performance and expects fierce competition, especially from Lewis Hamilton. Securing pole position is crucial, but Leclerc understands that the ultimate goal is to put it all together on Sunday and finally achieve victory.
Carlos Sainz, a member of the Scuderia team, had difficulties keeping up with his teammate during the race in Monaco. He was 0.684 seconds slower than Leclerc and struggled to find the right approach on the challenging track. After the race, Sainz expressed his frustration, stating that he definitely had difficulties during the qualifying lap. He felt they couldn’t extract the maximum performance from the soft tires. However, he mentioned that the long run seemed quick, which was something they needed to understand. Sainz admitted they made some changes to the setup at the beginning of FP2, which left him behind. He managed to recover during the long runs, but it wasn’t an ideal start to the weekend. He remained hopeful that he would have a better performance the next day. Sainz found it strange to struggle in Monaco, as it has been one of his strongest tracks in the past. However, he believed there was something to understand, especially considering he was the fastest during the long runs. Sainz has already stepped onto the podium twice in Monaco and hopes to have a better performance in the future. Although P1 in today’s qualifying is a good start, there are no guarantees he will climb the Royal Monaco podium, let alone win the race. Some luck would certainly be beneficial. (Additional reporting by Agnes Carlier in Monaco)
