Ferrari acknowledged that they will have work ahead of them this weekend, after McLaren’s strong Friday in free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula 1. The sporting director of the Italian team, Diego Ioverno, admitted that the team still needs to evolve to keep up with the pace shown by competitors.
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This assessment came after McLaren’s consistent performance in the first two free practice sessions at Suzuka. Although Lando Norris finished FP1 behind the Mercedes pair, formed by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri reacted in FP2 and ended the session with the best time.
But Ferrari couldn’t keep up with the pace of their rivals. Charles Leclerc finished FP2 only in fifth position, with Lewis Hamilton right behind, in sixth, a tenth behind his teammate. The seven-time champion also reported discomfort at the wheel of the car.
After the end of Friday’s activities, Ioverno evaluated Ferrari’s performance and highlighted that the result was within expectations: “I think it was a fairly linear session for us, without major dramas. Obviously, there are some difficulties we need to overcome for tomorrow, but it’s more or less the scenario we expected,” he said in an interview with F1TV.
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The director also highlighted McLaren’s strength in qualifying conditions. According to him, the performance of the rival team was not a surprise: “I think, in qualifying configuration or something similar, with low fuel, McLaren has already been strong in the first two races. So, more or less, they are where we imagined they would be. We’ll see how the weekend evolves,” he added.
In addition to the direct comparison with McLaren, Ioverno also commented on Ferrari’s internal challenges. The sporting director acknowledged that there are still points to improve, especially to increase driver confidence: “There is work we need to do, and we hope Lewis gains confidence. Charles also faced some difficulties. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” the director concluded.
With Friday completed, Ferrari enters the rest of the weekend seeking improvement to reduce the gap to McLaren. The performance in FP3 and the qualifying session will be decisive in determining whether the Italian team will be able to react at the Japanese Grand Prix.
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