Charles Leclerc is generally satisfied with the performance of his Ferrari during testing at Interlagos, but remains concerned about the impressive pace displayed by McLaren.
The Monegasque Scuderia driver will still be hoping to compete with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for this afternoon's Sprint in Sao Paulo, although he is aware that he could end up focusing on accumulating important points behind them.
After Friday's qualifying practice, Charles Leclerc said he was satisfied with his result, believing that he and his team had gotten the most out of their car.
“I'm happy because we optimized our performance today. I don't think we could have done better.” he declared.
Despite this satisfaction, the Monegasque driver recognizes that the McLarens are proving particularly competitive this weekend.
“The McLarens are very fast, and we are slightly behindhe admitted. It will be crucial to score points, even if I don't like to anticipate that from the start of the weekend. We will give our best to challenge them.”
Leclerc is therefore preparing for a difficult weekend, while hoping that Ferrari will be able to meet the challenge against the British team.
Sainz seeks to optimize soft tires
For his part, Carlos Sainz believes that he still has room for improvement, especially with regard to the soft tires. Ranked fifth at the moment, the Spanish Ferrari driver believes he can do better by finding the right balance with the tires.
“Track temperatures have dropped, and this has complicated things for the tires which have not reached their ideal temperatureexplains Sainz. We had a ride with the tenders, which will come in handy for the rest of the weekend.”
He also recalls that similar situations were seen in Austin, where Ferrari struggled with the soft tires on Friday before finding improvement in qualifying.
“Our plan is to find a little more performance by tomorrow with the softs, and thus maximize our result in qualifying” he adds.
A Ferrari-McLaren duel under high tension
Ferrari therefore arrives at Interlagos with a clear objective: to maximize the performance of the SF-24 while remaining in ambush against the McLarens. With a confident Leclerc and Sainz determined to adjust his settings to improve his times, the Scuderia will hope to remain competitive in this fierce fight for points.
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