“Qualifying was a bit more difficult than we had hoped. In general we lacked some grip. We normally have a good car in the race, hopefully that will be in our favor on Sunday. We are fast on the straights, but it is clear that Ferrari is also very fast again.”
Leclerc was obviously happy with his pole. In the end he was three tenths of a second faster than Verstappen, who was faster in the final training session on Saturday. Leclerc: „That’s why I was a bit surprised with our speed in qualifying. I struggled all weekend to get a good lap together, but luckily I succeeded. Also thanks to the help of Carlos (Sainz, ed). Without him it would have been much closer.”
Sainz himself did not drive a fast lap in Q3, because he already knows after an engine change that he has to start from the back on Sunday. In both rounds in that final qualifying heat, he gave Leclerc a slipstream. Verstappen knows his teammate Sergio Pérez close by on Sunday. The Mexican starts from third place.