Charles Leclerc highlighted the difficulty of overtaking on the new Madrid circuit after the first day of activities at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1. For the Ferrari driver, the qualifying session should play a decisive role in the weekend.
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The Monegasque approved the experience of driving on the new layout and was impressed with the level of grip found, even with little rubber accumulated on the track. Still, Leclerc expects a significant evolution of the conditions over the next few days.
“It was exciting to drive on the Madrid circuit today. It is a challenging street track, which is the type of circuit I usually like, and this one is no exception,” said Leclerc. The driver also highlighted the amount of grip already present, considering it is a completely new layout, but stressed that the track evolution should be significant during the weekend.
Ferrari focused Friday’s work on completing as many laps as possible and gathering data to better understand the circuit and prepare for the qualifying session. According to Leclerc, this session should be especially important because overtaking is difficult on the Madrid layout.
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Lewis Hamilton also approved the track but identified a growing difficulty in getting the car into the ideal operating window: “It’s a fun track to drive and FP1 was a good starting point for us. As the day went on, we had a bit more difficulty getting the car into the right window,” explained the Briton.
Hamilton added that Ferrari still needs to analyze some points, mainly related to the car’s balance. The team intends to review the data collected overnight and seek improvement before the qualifying session, taking advantage of the positive aspects identified in the first sessions.
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