Leclerc: Free practice is for testing the limits

'Surprising' because the Reds had downplayed their chances ahead of this round after a bitter-sweet but positive Monaco Grand Prix.

But after FP2, at the end of a challenging and incident-packed day, Sainz was third and Leclerc fourth, the latter despite a crash during the morning session that required a new front nose on the Ferrari.

In the team report, Leclerc said: "I felt quite comfortable in the car today, especially in terms of braking, maybe even too comfortable, pushing a bit too much into turn 15. But in the end, that’s what free practice is for: testing the limits. I was on a good lap there and we will see what we can do tomorrow.

Ferrari claim that they were taken aback by the pace of their car on the streets of Monte-Carlo; now the Baku pace has also come as a pleasant surprise according to Leclerc: "It was definitely a better day than we expected, but it’s only the first day of practice.

"The pace looked promising, and we will keep working overnight to be as competitive tomorrow.
Our main competitors are quick, even though they haven’t shown it yet. We have to make sure we do everything perfectly.

"We have to maximize our potential and hopefully, we can have a good qualifying," explained Leclerc, who also crashed during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix a couple of Saturdays ago.

The reality check for the much loved Monegasque is the fact that his new teammate Sainz gets better and better with every outing. FP2 in Baku was no exception, with the Spaniard a couple of tenths faster than Leclerc and only a tenth and a bit shy of Sergio Perez's top time.

Sainz too was surprised by what he could extract from the Ferrari: "Today we were a bit quicker than we had expected. However, the timesheets can be misleading, with cars getting tows on the straights – myself included – and others not finishing flying laps for various reasons. Still, it was an encouraging first day for the team here in Baku.

"Tomorrow afternoon will obviously be a better indicator ahead of qualifying, so we need to work out where we can gain a bit of lap time on the short runs, as well as finding a good compromise to make the tyres work on the long runs.

"There could be opportunities this weekend and we need to be ready to make the most of them," added Sainz.