Leclerc clarifies Ferrari Suzuka slump

Charles Leclerc has explained the reason behind Ferrari's slump in second practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Friday's running at Suzuka was held in wet conditions, with drivers switching from the extreme wets to intermediates in both sessions.

But after Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz ended FP1 second and third quickest, the pair could only manage times good enough for 11th and sixth respectively in FP2.

Leclerc, who was 2.1secs slower in the later run, said: "FP1 was fun [but] in FP2, we had no tyres left so it was less fun.

"But overall it was quite a good day. The feeling with the car is good. We just need to put everything together.”

Each driver enters a race weekend with four sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of the extreme-wet compound.

If any practice session is wet, each driver is granted an additional set of inters, but these must be handed back after the session.

With more rain forecast for Sunday's race, Leclerc believes Ferrari is in a strong position to be able to deal with the conditions.

“It feels pretty good," he added. "As I said, I think FP2 was very difficult because the tyres were just completely done but there is plenty to learn for the race especially.

“It’s a positive Friday and let’s see tomorrow, because conditions will change a lot, so FP3 will be all about adapting to those conditions as quickly as possible and let’s see what is possible.”

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