Friday Report - Leclerc tops second session

Charles Leclerc
© Ferrari

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari demonstrated impressive pace in the second practice session (FP2) for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with Leclerc topping the timesheets in both of Friday’s sessions. The Monegasque driver extended his gap over the rest of the field to nearly 0.2 seconds in the afternoon, confirming the team’s competitive edge with their latest upgrades.

Ferrari had a productive day, completing 113 laps between Leclerc and his teammate, Carlos Sainz. The team aimed to gather extensive data on their new upgrades, which seemed to suit Leclerc perfectly. However, Sainz faced challenges, particularly under heavy braking. He struggled at the Variante Alta and lacked confidence in the Rivazza corners, resulting in him finishing 6th, half a second behind Leclerc. Sainz’s difficulties in the final sector, where he lost over 0.2 seconds, highlighted areas for improvement before qualifying.

Red Bull encountered unexpected issues that hampered Max Verstappen’s performance. Despite showing initial promise on Medium tyres, with Verstappen stating, “it’s better already with these tyres,” his performance declined on the Soft tyres with low fuel levels. Verstappen struggled with heavy braking and cornering, going wide at Rivazza, and finished the session in 7th place, more than half a second behind Leclerc. Sergio Pérez, who prefers an understeering setup, ended the session just over 0.1 seconds behind Verstappen in 8th place.

McLaren surprised many with their strong pace, especially during long runs. Oscar Piastri, equipped with the full upgrade package, was second fastest on low fuel, while Lando Norris showed potential to match Leclerc’s best time. Norris, however, went wide at the Rivazza corners and aborted his lap to focus on long runs. Their average lap times were notably quick, with Piastri on the Hard tyres being 0.35 seconds faster than the Mercedes duo, and Norris on the Medium compound just 0.1 seconds off Leclerc’s average, proving McLaren’s Miami win was no fluke.

Mercedes had a solid outing, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Their long-run pace on Hard tyres was close to Norris’s pace on Medium tyres. Hamilton, however, faced traffic issues, which slowed down Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda. Verstappen, particularly frustrated, was held up by the Mercedes driver.

Yuki Tsunoda was another standout performer, setting the third quickest time in FP2 after being 6th in the earlier session. The VCARB driver outpaced both Mercedes, both Red Bulls, and Sainz, showing comfort with the weekend’s upgrades. Daniel Ricciardo, Tsunoda’s teammate, struggled and finished 11th, more than 0.7 seconds behind Tsunoda, possibly due to being on a different program. Tsunoda’s pace on the Medium tyres was strong initially, but his performance dropped significantly in the latter part of his long run, resulting in an average lap time over a second off the front runners’ after 13 laps.