Formula 1 returned to action Friday at the Dutch Grand Prix, following the Summer Shutdown.
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari may be hoping the break could have lasted one more week.
It was a difficult Friday for the team at Zandvoort, one that Leclerc described as the “worst” of the season. Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton languished at the back of the grid in FP1, with Leclerc in P14 and Hamilton in P15. For Leclerc, it was the second sector that was his undoing, as his best time in S2 was eclipsed by most of the grid, including Alpine’s Franco Colapinito, who finished behind him in P18.
As you can see in this graphic from GP-Tempo.com, Colapinto was much quicker through the second sector than Leclerc, particularly the stretch from Turn 7 through Turn 10:
At one point during FP1, Leclerc radioed into his team that they needed to focus on their own programs and not the other teams, as they are “miles” off the pace.
While things improved for Ferrari in FP2 as Hamilton finished sixth and Leclerc finished eighth, they are still a bit off the pace of McLaren.
And Leclerc believes they need a “miracle” this weekend.
“It was a very, very, very, very difficult Friday. Probably the worst Friday of the season,” said Leclerc after the session to Sky Sports F1.
“Right after the holidays and it’s a bit of a wake-up call. We have had some difficult Fridays and now it’s up to us to turn the situation around. For sure, not an easy day. FP1 was extremely difficult. FP2 was slightly better but still very far off where we want to be.”
Leclerc pointed to McLaren, as well as Aston Martin, as the teams to chase this weekend.
“I don’t expect to fully turn the situation because McLaren are in a league of their own with Aston Martin, which is a surprise for us. We will try to improve the car because there is plenty to be done,” added the Ferrari driver.
“We are losing basically 90 per cent of the time in two corners. There’s something our car cannot do at the moment, and we are trying to find out why it’s so concentrated on two corners. We will try to find a solution,” continued Leclerc.
“It’s a very strange season. I would never have said I would be on pole in Budapest I don’t want to have a target because after a difficult weekend, it’s not an exciting target but I’m looking forward to trying to turn the situation [around] and to make a miracle but it won’t be an easy weekend for us.”
Ferrari has some work to do ahead of Saturday’s final hour of practice, which comes before the critical qualifying session for the Dutch Grand Prix.
