31/08/2018
NEWS STORY
It was an eventful day at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza ahead of the 2018 FIA Formula One Italian Grand Prix. The first practice session was compromised by heavy rain which made it tricky to drive and only allowed the drivers to complete a few laps. The second practice session took an unfortunate turn when Marcus Ericsson crashed on his second lap at the first chicane due to a problem with his DRS. Fortunately, the Swedish driver was unharmed in the incident and the team is working on fixing his car for tomorrow's sessions. The same issue was detected on Charles Leclerc's car and was promptly resolved so that he could continue the session. Leclerc's top-ten performance in FP2 showed the car's potential, and the team is positive about the rest of the weekend.
Marcus Ericsson: "The accident I had in FP2 was a big impact - thanks to the strength of the car I am alright. The team is already working hard to repair the car so that I can be back on track tomorrow. I look forward to driving again."
Charles Leclerc: "The day was OK. On one hand, we had quite a few issues - on the other hand, our performance was quite good if you take the challenges we faced into consideration. We have some work ahead of us now, and will do everything we can to make the necessary steps forward before we head into the next sessions. The main thing is that Marcus is well after his crash, and we will push to have a good result tomorrow."
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "First of all, I am happy to say that Marcus is well, which is the most important thing. We were able to establish the issue that caused the incident at the beginning of FP2. There was a problem with his DRS, which stayed open when he hit the brakes at Turn 1. We detected the same issue on Charles' car shortly after that, and brought it back to the garage immediately to resolve the problem. Charles did a good job in managing the situation on track and staying focused during FP2, finishing the session in P9. This proves that we have strong potential on this track, and we are optimistic for tomorrow."