Ferrari 'closer' to competition at Monza thanks to developments

Fans, rejoice: yes, Ferrari seems to be in the game for victory this weekend, at Monza! Team appeared at ease at the Temple of Speed ​​on Friday, during the first Free Practice. Charles Leclerc et Carlos Sainz, equipped with new developments on their SF-24, finished the two sessions in the Top 5 in a very dense top of the table between the McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. A promising start to the weekend, much more so than the last performance in the Netherlands.

A step forward that Ferrari will have to confirm in qualifying and in the race. If Charles Leclerc mentioned a Friday " positive " In the Italian clan, the Monegasque tempered the ardor of the supporters by specifying that the Scuderia had "still work to do" to understand and make the most of developments.

“It’s a good start, it feels good, everything we’ve brought to the car seems to be working as expected, which is always a good thing, highlights the six-time Grand Prix winner. We now need to focus on balance, because it was a tricky day in that regard. Performance-wise we were pretty good, but in terms of balance we can still take a few steps in the right direction."

"We are closer [to the competition] than we were in Zandvoort, adds the Ferrari driver, who finished less than two tenths of the reference time set by Lewis Hamilton during EL2. However, I still feel that McLaren and Mercedes are very strong. We will have a lot of competition tomorrow, but we are more in the fight than at Zandvoort. That is a good thing for Saturday and I hope we are as strong on Sunday.

A hierarchy still unclear according to Sainz

Caution also on the part of Carlos Sainz, who spoke of a day "difficult for everyone" with the new asphalt of the Lombard track. According to the Spaniard, the teams have rather sought to understand the functioning and wear of the tires on this new tarmac, and have not shown their full potential in terms of pure speed.

"It's very difficult to read. I don't have a clear vision of who is the fastest, who is fast on the long runs, on the flying laps, concedes the Madrilenian. It seems that McLaren and Mercedes are in a good position. We ourselves sometimes have flashes of speed, and other times we are a bit slower. We were quick on the medium tyres, but then on the softs we were nothing special. On the mediums we seemed to struggle with the graining on the long runs.

"It will be interesting to see who can draw the right conclusion from [this Friday], because a lot of information has been gathered. As I said, it is a very new circuit, and [we will see] who will put things right for [Saturday] and Sunday.", concludes Carlos Sainz. In 2023, he was the one who took pole position for the Italian GP, ​​before losing in the race to the fast Red Bulls. This year, there will be eight of them claiming pole position, but we know that Italian fervour can give wings – and perhaps a few hundredths – to the Ferrari drivers at Monza.

ALSO READ > It's official, Andrea Kimi Antonelli to be a permanent member of Mercedes' team from 2025