“Unfortunate end to an otherwise good day”: Charles Leclerc insists that his confidence remains unshaken despite making a crucial mistake in Jeddah

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a crucial error during FP2 in Jeddah that brought their session to an early end on Friday evening.

Coming into the Saudi Arabian GP, Ferrari and Red Bull were expected to battle for the win once again. The rivalry that most people look forward to as the season progresses is that between Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

The two drivers topped both practice sessions on Friday, but in the evening run, Leclerc gave the Ferrari pit-wall some reasons to worry. Most teams used FP2 to complete long-runs, that would be used to gain crucial data for Sunday’s race.

While Leclerc put up the fastest time overall, he wasn’t able to complete the sufficient number of laps. His car touched the walls during one of his flying laps, that damaged the F1-75 significantly. As a result, the 24-year old managed just 15 laps.

Even Leclerc’s teammate Sainz had a slight crash when he touched the barriers. The Spaniard completed just 12 laps before he came into the pits, calling it a day.

Ferrari will be concerned about Red Bull completing more laps, as they would have gained more valuable data.

Also read: Max Verstappen thought his car was on fire after smelling smoke that was coming from a blaze 12 miles away

Ferrari will definitely be in the mix along with Red Bull, says Charles Leclerc

Leclerc acknowledged the fact that his mistake cost his team valuable track time. In spite of that, he is adamant that his confidence remains the same.

The Monegasque insists that they’ll make up for lost time during FP3, before the real action starts in Qualifying later on Saturday evening. After Friday’s session, the Ferrari driver spoke to the media, talking about his plans and thoughts for the rest of the weekend.

“It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise good day,” he said.

“In FP2 it was a small mistake, but not one that makes me lose confidence. I expected the front to slide around more and I clipped the inside wall at Turn 4.”

“Focusing on tomorrow, I think the pace is there. It’s a bit of a shame we couldn’t get the high fuel laps done. But we should be in the mix for tomorrow,” Leclerc concluded.

Also read: Toto Wolff says F1 teams have been given the freedom not to compete in Saudi Arabia