Leclerc: Impressions of the car are not bad, it is a good sign

Charles Leclerc missed the first practice as Robert Schwartzman was driving his car in Austin and the schedule for the second session proved extremely tight. But overall, Charles was pleased with the results.

Charles Leclerc (1st): “I think this training program was the most intense I’ve ever done. I did 37 laps, working with different tires, including prototype tires that we tested.

All in all a good day, positive impressions and as we did so many laps in the second session, we were able to make up for part of the missed first session.

Talking about the quality of the track, in my opinion it has gotten better than before, although it could be even smoother. But the feeling of driving was good right away, and that’s a good sign. Although of course we have to take another big step forward on Saturday, as always, but I hope we can work well tomorrow too.”

Carlos Sainz (4th): “Today we were able to set a good pace, that’s for sure. The day was not easy, also due to the fact that there are many bumps on the track, and for this track it is always difficult to find the optimal balance and choose the right ground clearance, taking into account curbs and bumps.

Although it wasn’t very comfortable to fly because of all these bumps, we were fast, and that’s what matters. So in terms of speed, the start of the American weekend is going well, although you can’t say the same about the thrills in general, so in preparation for tomorrow we still have to work on the car.

In the third practice, it is important to work as efficiently as possible, as several checks have to be carried out, which were not possible today due to the Pirelli tests. First of all, we need to make sure that the car handles bumps and curbs better, and also try to find a more correct approach to the first sector of the circle, because in the other two sectors we seem quite competitive.”