Leclerc buoyed by Ferrari "positives" despite Imola crash

Charles Leclerc has insisted there were "a lot of positives" for Ferrari ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix despite numerous incidents damaging Friday's running.

Leclerc missed the early stages of the morning session with a minor gremlin before the Monégasque driver saw a lap time deleted for a track limit violation ahead of his session-ending incident in second practice.

Despite the mounting negatives on the first day of running, Ferrari finished the day in fourth and fifth in the standings, with Leclerc declaring the Scuderia had improved its performance.

"There are a lot of positives today," said Leclerc. "It has not been an easy day on my side but the performance has been great for me. In FP1, unfortunately, we didn't do the first part because of a small problem but the car felt good.

"In FP2, we got our lap time deleted for very small margins in turn nine but what is important is not to do the same in quali. The performance is there too, also in the race pace it was good.

"Then I did a mistake in the last corner and went into the wall but better do it now than in the race."

On the severity of the issue that delayed his participation in FP1, Leclerc replied: "Nothing serious. We just stopped but it was okay. We just checked everything and we went again."

Ferrari made steps forward at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix by finishing sixth and eighth, but both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled with the balance of the car due to the extreme heat and winds encountered in Sakhir.

On the improved feel with the car at Imola, Leclerc commented: "It is all track and temperature specific because we haven't changed the car at all.

"The car feels a lot better in those conditions, it feels great even if we compare to last year. The grip is good, the balance is good. I have confidence in the car so I am looking forward to Saturday.

"It felt better than last year but we have to wait and see tomorrow when we are all pushing in qualifying because for now, it is difficult to believe we are so close to the top teams and I am pretty sure they have a bit more to come tomorrow so let's wait and see."

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