The fact that Carlos Sainz will drop ten or more places on the grid for Sunday’s French Grand Prix did not stop him from strutting his stuff in FP2 to end the first day at Paul Ricard fastest of all and hailing the updates seen today as a step forward for the F1-75.
An engine change since Sainz’s Ferrari was engulfed in flames during the Austrian Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago seems to have done the trick out the box as even his ultra-quick benchmark teammate Charles Leclerc was a tenth shy of the flying Spaniard who was, of course, very content with his Friday day at the office.
Sainz summed up in the Scuderia’s Friday report: “It’s been a positive day. The updates seem to work well and the car felt good, especially on the flying laps. The long runs were a bit more challenging due to the graining.”
This is not good news for Ferrari rivals, the best of which was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, albeit half a second down on Sainz’s table-topping effort.
But reliability in sorching heat expected in southern France this week will play a big factor on Sunday afternoon: “For sure, today’s high temperatures were an important factor to consider, but we need to look carefully into how we can protect the tyres as much as possible.
Sainz will have a 10-place grid penalty to contend with on Sunday
“Given I’ll take a penalty on Sunday, we now need to focus on preparing the car for the race. There is room for improvement, so we’ll keep digging!” added the British Grand Prix winner.
Leclerc had little to say: “The sessions went quite well today. Our qualifying pace was pretty good, so our focus now will be on our race pace. Tyre management will be key, as the temperatures are so high this weekend. I am confident that we will be all set by the time Sunday comes as we know where we need to improve.”
Between them, the Ferrari rivers completed 84 laps, splitting the programme in the second session to get as much data as possible relating to the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres on the demanding Paul Ricard surface.
Also on the agenda, was evaluation of aerodynamic updates brought from Maranello for this race. Another factor in the decision to split the programmes is the fact that Carlos’ car was fitted with its third Control Electronics and as two is the permitted number per season, he will have a grid penalty to contend with for Sunday’s race.
Ferrari – with Sainz winner at Silverstone and Leclerc triumphing at Red Bull’s home ground – are looking for a hat-trick of wins on Sunday and to do more damage to Verstappen’s championship lead which is 38 points at the halfway mark, ahead of Round 12 of the 2022 F1 World Championship.