The slip shortly before the end of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday (May 22, 2022, live on sportschau.de and excerpts in the Sportschau) did not stop the Monegasque, he is on pole for the fourth time this season. Even safe because Max Verstappen’s Red Bull technology went on strike again: The world champion was only able to take second place.
“The pressure was great”
“The pressure was great, I only had one lap left” said Leclerc, “but then it went really well.” In the crucial section, he had allowed himself to spin after having been almost flawless in Spain: he set the fastest lap time in all three practice sessions and also in Q1. After his slip, he still drove the clear best time.
strong answer
Leclerc gave a strong response to Verstappen’s recent successes: the Dutchman had recently won two races in a row and reduced the gap to Leclerc to 19 championship points. In Barcelona, of all things, he complained about a lack of speed during the decisive attempt: the DRS, the folding wing, did not open.
“It’s hard to say if it would have been enough for pole”said Verstappen “but I couldn’t try, it’s a shame.”
Mercedes follows again
Behind the two rivals, Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz is third in front of his home crowd. Despite a few updates, Mercedes has not yet been able to catch up with the leaders, but is still on the up: George Russell finished fourth again ahead of record world champion Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth.
Sebastian Vettel disappointed in the Aston Martin with 16th place. Mick Schumacher, however, managed a premiere in his Formula 1 career with the help of the rulers. The Haas driver initially slipped to eleventh place at the end of Q2 and would have been eliminated, but the stewards canceled a lap time from Lando Norris. The McLaren driver had just overshot the track barrier.
Schumacher in the top ten, Vettel weak
In any case, Schumacher slipped back into the top 10, for the first time he took part in the final qualifying section in the premier class, finishing tenth. A good result compared to the previous history: The German had missed large parts of the third practice session because a brake caught fire in the Spanish heat.
For Vettel, qualifying held an unpleasant punch line. Aston Martin had traveled to Spain with a completely overhauled car because the disappointments of the previous season had led to a rethink.
Red Bull resemblance didn’t help either
However, the new concept of the side boxes is now strongly reminiscent of that of the Red Bull, Verstappen’s team Aston Martin has therefore openly accused of data theft. However, after an investigation, the FIA gave the green light.
In view of this excitement, it was now eagerly awaited whether Vettel and Lance Stroll would be more competitive – they were not. Both pilots failed in the first section.
Source: sid/dpa/red