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 notably robust.
Max Verstappen was comfortably quickest in a moist qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, however Leclerc’s ultimate lap in Q3 earned him second within the classification, that means he’ll begin from pole place as a consequence of Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty. Leclerc says he was aiming for a high 5 end result heading into qualifying given Ferrari’s current kind, and he had not anticipated his lap to be adequate to beat the remainder of the sector.
“I’m very shocked,” Leclerc stated. “Truly, even after I completed the lap, I didn’t really feel prefer it was price a second place. I imply, it was an excellent lap, a clear lap, and that’s what you want in these situations. I consider that particularly whenever you get to Q3 within the final lap, everyone 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 unimaginable lap, so I’m very pleased to be P2. I undoubtedly didn’t anticipate that. I feel as a crew, at this time, P5 would have been a little bit of an excellent end result, and at this time we’re P2 and tomorrow we will likely be beginning on pole. That’s an excellent factor, however as I stated, we don’t have any magical answer for the race tempo and it will likely 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 bounce up the order to beat Sergio Perez to second.
“We didn’t change the steadiness that a lot from Q1 to Q3. I feel the place we improved fairly a bit was to place the tires in the proper window. That was tremendous vital, and in these situations that’s at all times the place you wrestle.
“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 comfortable, and that helped me for Q3. It was all about effective tuning the out lap and placing the tires in the proper window.”
Whereas the Monegasque believes Ferrari’s race tempo might be a trigger for concern primarily based 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 the beginning 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, not too long ago, we’ve been struggling a little bit bit extra. Nonetheless, 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 an excellent beginning place. It’s additionally a monitor the place you’ll be able to overtake fairly simply, so we’ll want the tempo. We’ll solely have the reply tomorrow.”
