08/06/2024
NEWS STORY
Friday free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix was of limited significance because of intermittent rain affecting both hours of track action.
Scuderia Ferrari HP ran three different tyre compounds - the Intermediate, Soft and Medium - with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. It is difficult, if not impossible so far to assess the pecking order down pit lane, because today the track was in a state of constant evolution and so it is practically impossible to make any comparisons.
The clock for the session started counting down on time, but the pit lane exit was closed and the cars were only able to go out on track after 23 minutes. Both drivers went out on Intermediate tyres with less than half an hour remaining, setting very similar times of 1'27"560 for Charles with Carlos posting a 1'27"485. After a quarter of an hour, with six minutes remaining, both SF-24s went out on Softs, with Sainz going second fastest in 1'24"763, while Leclerc encountered traffic and was third in 1'25"306. They each only completed 11 laps.
The second session was the opposite to the first in terms of the rain, which fell just before the start, although the track in fact stayed dry. The team therefore made the most of it to try the Medium tyre with both drivers. The Monegasque took a few laps to get them up to temperature and on his tenth lap set an encouraging 1'16"556, the quickest on that compound and fourth overall, while Carlos was 13th in 1'17"722. Shortly afterwards, the rain increased in intensity and so both SF-24s ran on Intermediates. Leclerc completed 24 laps, Sainz 27.
The Scuderia, and indeed all the other teams, still have plenty of work to do prior to tomorrow's qualifying and for the race. The third free practice session which starts at 12.30 local (18.30 CEST) will therefore be particularly important to fine tune the set-up to allow the drivers to take their best possible shot during the battle for pole position which gets underway at 16.00 (22.00 CEST). The weather still looks very uncertain with Montreal expecting thunderstorms and clear spells to alternate yet again.
Charles Leclerc: There was not so much to learn today, as the conditions were very different each time we went out. We put in quite a few laps throughout the day, so that was a positive.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow and we will try to put everything together for qualifying.
Carlos Sainz: A very Canadian Friday at this time of the year, with the weather changing a lot, alternating between dry and wet conditions. Despite the track changing all the time we managed to run as much as we could and put down some decent runs with both the slicks and the Intermediate compound.
However, it's not easy to extract many conclusions from the sessions today, so we need to focus on ourselves and be as ready as possible for tomorrow.