The Red Pilots in Baku in front of everyone in the FP2. Vasseur preaches calm: “We remain concentrated”
In Baku in the last four years Charles Leclerc has started from the pole position five times: four in view of the Grand Prix and an extra pole, in 2023, for the Spring Race on Saturday. A record that Monegasco himself tried to explain at the start of the race weekend in Azerbaijan: “On the city circuits I am always at ease but here there is something more. This is a track that enhances my driving style”. And that Leclerc in Baku is always in his better state of form, looking for the limit in every test, he also demonstrated it in the first two free sessions: third, behind McLaren, in the FP1 and second in the FP2. In front of him in the second session of the day he placed his teammate for only 74 thousandths
Consistency
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A Lewis Hamilton returned to the track after the end of the European appointments with a newfound force, ready to fight to close his season of Ferrari’s debut in the growing Ferrari compared to what was seen by the Via del Camparona. A podium is still missing, for Hamilton in red, and being able to position himself among the first three in a GP by the end of the year is almost an obligation for him who, in his career, managed to get on the podium in every season from his debut in 2007 to today. Leaving Baku, where Ferrari immediately appeared in great shape, seems possible, but Maranello’s team does not want to delude himself after the good results of the Friday: “I am certainly happy with the first day – explained the French Principal Fred Vasseur – but dreaming is never a good thing and we must not think that everything is easy. We do not know with what loads of petrol have shot our opponents and we have not seen the potential of others. chase the last thousandth and do not take anything for granted “. An invitation to calm, and a reference to reality, which is also reflected in the ridges of the Red: Leclerc himself, in the last four years, has never managed to transform the pole position obtained in Baku into victories. Today the Monegasco will try to make another magic in the dry tour and after the excellent results of the Friday, Lewis will also try to do something special: the seven times world champion has in fact concluded the FP2 going under the time of Leclerc’s pole last year, with a 1’41 “293, 72 thousandths better than the result of the Monegasque Saturday of 2024.
others
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The Red has worked on different strategies to extract greater data from the free free of the two pilots, both in terms of choice of tires for the long run and loading of the wing, and being able to reach today with more responses on the track: “On high load circuits, the set -up is well known but when you explore low charge you have to correct the data – said Vasseur -. decision”. What in the Ferrari house is not known, however, is the extent of the work done by the other stables, in particular by a McLaren who, after dominating in the FP1, in the second session disappeared in the rear with Lando Norris Decimo, also on the wall in the FP2, and Oscar Piatti twelfth. The Papaya team, which this weekend could already win the manufacturers’ title, has not appeared, however, worried by a chaotic Friday between Baku’s curves, a track that has always given contradictions and unexpected events: today the English team will reveal its cards and will be at Ferrari to demonstrate that that of the first free was not only a magical illusion. “Our opponents seem very strong and I expect some surprises in qualifying – said Leclerc – Everything can happen on this track but we will fight for a good position on the starting grid”. A hope shared with Hamilton: “We are going in the right direction”. A certainty for the British, among the many questions, waiting to find out which other contradictions will bring Baku stage.
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