Charles Leclerc says he was shocked to set the second quickest time in qualifying on the Belgian Grand Prix as his lap didn’t really feel significantly robust.
Max Verstappen was comfortably quickest in a moist qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, however Leclerc’s remaining lap in Q3 earned him second within the classification, that means he’ll begin from pole place because of Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty. Leclerc says he was aiming for a high 5 consequence heading into qualifying given Ferrari’s current type, and he had not anticipated his lap to be ok to beat the remainder of the sector.
“I’m very shocked,” Leclerc mentioned. “Really, even once I completed the lap, I didn’t really feel prefer it was value a second place. I imply, it was lap, a clear lap, and that’s what you want in these situations. I imagine that particularly whenever you get to Q3 within the final lap, all people is aware of that that is the lap, and that pushes individuals to perhaps do extra errors.
“On my aspect, it was a clear lap, however not an unbelievable lap, so I’m very blissful to be P2. I positively didn’t anticipate that. I feel as a group, right this moment, P5 would have been a little bit of consequence, and right this moment we’re P2 and tomorrow we shall be beginning on pole. That’s factor, however as I mentioned, we don’t have any magical resolution for the race tempo and it is going to be a little bit of a tough day tomorrow.”
Leclerc was one of many few drivers to enhance with their final runs in Q3, and he says tire preparation was central to that soar up the order to beat Sergio Perez to second.
“We didn’t change the stability that a lot from Q1 to Q3. I feel the place we improved fairly a bit was to place the tires in the precise window. That was tremendous essential, and in these situations that’s at all times the place you battle.
“We did some modifications particularly on the out lap and the way a lot you push and the place you push. Then I felt extra relaxed, and that helped me for Q3. It was all about advantageous tuning the out lap and placing the tires in the precise window.”
Whereas the Monegasque believes Ferrari’s race tempo might be a trigger for concern based mostly on the struggles it has confronted over the previous 4 rounds, he says he’ll merely give attention to making an attempt to maintain Perez at bay at first earlier than seeing how the long term efficiency pans out.
“It’s going to be a tough race for us. It is going to be dry situations, and in dry situations, just lately, we’ve been struggling a bit of bit extra. Nevertheless, the McLaren is a bit additional away than what we wished. There’s Checo proper behind. That would be the most important goal, after which we’ll see the way it goes after the primary stint.
“Nevertheless it’s beginning place. It’s additionally a observe the place you may overtake fairly simply, so we’ll want the tempo. We’ll solely have the reply tomorrow.”
