Leclerc ready to bet on his team after fastest lap

BARCELONA: Charles Leclerc said he would put his money on Ferrari after clocking the fastest lap so far in Formula One testing.

The young Monegasque’s time of 1:16.231 was a talking point on a sunny day at the Circuit de Catalunya, confirming Ferrari’s status as early frontrunners, while Frenchman Pierre Gasly had a heavy crash in his Red Bull.

Lapping in ambient temperatures of 21°C, Leclerc went more than half a second faster than the best of the rest on the softest, and fastest, C5 compound tyres.

He later stopped on track with an exhaust issue but the overall tone emanating from the team was upbeat.

Asked by a reporter whether he would put his own money on the Italian team if he had to bet on who was fastest, Leclerc replied: “At the moment I’m happy, so yes.”

The lap was close to the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix pole time of 1:16.173 set by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes, and came as a boost for Ferrari after Sebastian Vettel had crashed on Wednesday.

The penultimate day of testing, before teams head back to their factories and on to Australia for the March 17 season-opener, saw another high-speed incident when Gasly went off at turn nine.

The Frenchman, who has moved up from Toro Rosso to replace departed Australian Daniel Ricciardo, was unhurt but the impact did considerable damage to the car and ended the team’s programme for the day.

While Red Bull have impressed with their new Honda engine, Gasly said Ferrari were still ahead.

“I think they are really fast, they showed some good pace,” he said. — Reuters