After a mixed start to the year, Charles Leclerc is hoping for a strong result this weekend in Canada as he tries to get his championship challenge back on track.
While the first practice of the day was dominated by Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, Leclerc took the honours of being the best of the rest, finishing the session in third place, albeit nearly a second down on Lewis Hamilton.
The Scuderia Ferrari team showed better pace in the afternoon practice as Leclerc shot to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:12.177.
“Overall, the day was positive.” said a happy Leclerc. “In the first session there was a lot of cement dust on the track which, combined with the rather high temperatures of the asphalt, put us in difficulty from the grip point of view.“
With more rubber being laid down on the track throughout the course of the day as the supporting race series practiced, the surface improved ahead of the second session.
“The conditions, as the cars lapped improved, and in the afternoon I found myself more at ease.
“Between the first and the second session I believe we managed to work well and this allowed us to make a leap forward in terms of performance. We must continue this trend tomorrow.
Despite topping the timesheets on the first day, Leclerc isn’t getting carried away just yet.
“Assuming what the position we can achieve on the grid is difficult, we know that our rivals are very strong: we will do everything to give them a hard time.”
