It has been nearly 700 days since the last time Charles Leclerc scored a grand prix victory.
He was Max Verstappen’s closest championship rival in 2022, but not since the 11th round of that season in Austria has the darling of Ferrari climbed onto the top step of the podium.
His team has won since then – twice, in fact – but both times courtesy of his team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr. Even George Russell and Lando Norris have both won a grand prix in that time.
While Red Bull and Verstappen have clearly been the favourites through the first quarter of the 2024 season, winning four of the first six grands prix, there were some expecting that McLaren could be just as quick – if not quicker – than the world champions at Imola. But on the first day of practice at Imola, to the joy of the partisan crowd, Leclerc put his Ferrari fastest in both sessions.
There was, however, a caveat. Although Leclerc was the only driver to get under 1’16s on Friday, Norris probably should have been comfortably quickest. After 17 of the 18 corners of his qualifying simulation, Norris was well over half a second quicker than Leclerc’s ultimate best. However, a mistake at the exit of the second Rivazza ruined what would have surely been the best lap of the day, ensuring Leclerc would keep the top spot. For now, at least.
But McLaren had more to feel confident about heading into Saturday than just Norris’s one-lap pace. At the end of second practice, the long-run pace of Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri was stronger than any other team. On the medium rubber, Piastri’s average pace of 1’20.687 was almost two tenths quicker than his team mate and three tenths faster than Leclerc over a ten lap average. It was little wonder Piastri – running the full McLaren upgrades package for the first time – was pleased.
“I think it’s been one of our better Fridays and we seem to be in a pretty good place,” said Piastri. “It’s very tight out there so we’ll see what we can find for tomorrow, but it’s been an encouraging day. I’ve felt pretty comfy from the first lap this morning, so I’m excited for tomorrow.”
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Red Bull were slower than Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes on the time sheets and their long run pace also failed to match that of the McLarens and Ferraris on the medium compound – Mercedes opting for the hards instead. Verstappen was visibly…
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