Charles Leclerc knows there is some work to do before he returns to the track on Saturday at the Circuit de Monaco, with the Scuderia Ferrari driver unable to maximise his track time on Thursday.
Leclerc, racing this weekend in his second home Grand Prix but the first since his move to Ferrari, ended fourth fastest in the morning session around the principality but found traffic at the wrong times during the afternoon session, meaning he was only tenth quickest, 1.232 seconds off the pace set my Mercedes AMG Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton.
The traffic issues also meant he was almost half a second down on team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but as well as the traffic, he admitted there were also issues with getting Pirelli’s tyres into the right window throughout the session.
He hopes to come back fighting when track actions resumes on Saturday morning, with Leclerc aiming to close down the gap to Mercedes and fight to be on the front rows of the grid during the all-important Qualifying session later that day.
“We have some work to do before returning to the track on Saturday,” admits Leclerc. “The first session was ok and I felt quite comfortable in the car. It was more difficult to put the car and the tyres in the right window in the afternoon, and we were also held up by traffic.
“Nevertheless, our competitors are strong and we have to push to close the gap in qualifying. We will give it everything and I can’t wait to be back in the car.”
