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Publication date: September 11, 2020
Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari’s filming day earlier in the year helped him reach P3 in the opening practice session at Mugello.
Ferrari reached its second home race of the 2020 season after a dismal performance at its traditional home event – the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Sebastian Vettel would retire early with a brake failure, before Leclerc had the race red-flagged after a heavy crash at Parabolica.
But Leclerc would start the first Formula 1 racing weekend at Mugello in style, finishing P3 in the opening practice session, just three tenths behind Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas at the top.
Ferrari, of course, owns the Mugello circuit and uses it regularly as a test site. The Scuderia held a filming day in June, and Leclerc felt that helped him get started in FP1 as the other teams took on Mugello on his first visit.
Leclerc finished P10 in the afternoon session, which somewhat supports his theory.
“It was positive, but on the other hand, when it goes positive, we need to understand why,” he told reporters.
“To be honest, it was a surprise to everyone.
“I have my personal opinion: we did a day of filming that helped us set the pace on the track, as for all the other drivers, it was a new track.
“Maybe this helped us a bit. But in FP2 it was more where we expected to be.
“I think everything is very close, and I think that tomorrow we can take a step, a positive step. I have some optimism. “
# FP2 Results #beFerrari 🔴 #TuscanGP # SF1000GP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ZWWGY2rcc0
– Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 11, 2020
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However, the SF1000 didn’t seem like the easiest car to drive at its headquarters. Both Leclerc and Vettel had laps before Vettel suffered a total loss of power at the end of FP2.
And the four-time World Champion said his Ferrari in its special 1000-anniversary race livery was “quite complicated.”
“It’s a beautiful track, obviously a beautiful landscape, and you really enjoy that,” he added.
“Obviously it’s pretty brutal on the tires, so you take a lap and then it’s quite different. It is definitely fun to drive.
“We are working on it and I still think we have a lot of work ahead of us to try to improve it. We’ll see. I’m still not happy, but it’s Friday and that’s what Fridays are for.
“I think we can do [the car] better, but it will be a fight so obviously it’s a pretty difficult circuit in terms of needing the balance you’d like from the car.
“I’m sure we will find some small pieces.”
Vettel finished FP1 in P13, before improving slightly to P12 in the afternoon.
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