Ferrari 'in a good position': 'Our performance is better than it looks'

After the chaotic FP2 session for the Japanese Grand Prix, both Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, have commented on the team's form ahead of the rest of the weekend.

Hamilton sees Ferrari in a good position

After finishing P4 in the Friday afternoon session, Hamilton reviewed his first day of on track action at Suzuka positively. "Overall it was a positive day. This is an incredible track and the first sector feels great – you can really push there, especially with the new surface," said the Briton in a Ferrari press release.

"In FP1 the balance wasn’t as good as it could have been, but we made strong progress between sessions and I’m happy with the direction we took." Although, "There’s still some work to do overnight, and with the weather set to change, we’ll need to stay focussed – but we’re in a good position and I’m excited to see what we can do."

Hamilton in garage, during FP2 at Suzuka

'Ferrari's performance better than it looks'

Leclerc believes that the Scuderia are confident they can extract the SF-25's full performance in the upcoming race weekends, but kept an eye on the weather for what's left of the race weekend at Suzuka.

"It was a constructive day, we tried many different set-ups throughout the practice sessions and I feel that I learned a lot about our car and how we can extract the most from it in the upcoming races.

"We didn’t put everything together, with multiple red flags and traffic interrupting FP2, but I think that our performance is better than it is on paper right now. It will be interesting to see how the change in conditions, in particular in terms of the wind direction, will affect tomorrow’s sessions," concluded the Monegasque.

Leclerc during FP2 at Suzuka

During the second free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri set the fastest lap time, with Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar finishing in second and third place respectively. The session was interrupted four times due to multiple accidents and a fire on the grass track. Despite the interruptions, Hamilton and Leclerc finished in fourth and seventh place respectively. Read more