“It’s hard to say if I would have taken pole position otherwise, but I couldn’t do that last run. I suddenly lost power, which is very unfortunate. I would have loved to ride that last lap. If you look at the rest of the weekend, starting on the front row is an excellent performance,” said Verstappen. The Limburger had to abort his last lap quickly due to a sudden loss of power, following a problem with the DRS system.
Overtaking is normally difficult in Barcelona, but Red Bull has proven in recent races that it can handle tire condition better than Ferrari. Verstappen: “It will be very hot again on Sunday, so we hope that our car will be a bit kinder to the tires again. That is still difficult to estimate.”
Charles Leclerc made a mistake in Q3, but his second lap turned out to be more than enough for his fourth pole position of the year. He proved that he is at his best under pressure. “The car was fantastic,” said the Ferrari driver. “Making a spin in that chicane was all my fault and I knew I only had one chance to make it right. I managed to squeeze everything into that one lap.”
Leclerc didn’t want to elevate the thirteenth pole of his career to his best lap ever, but the championship leader was pleased with it. “Especially given the difficult conditions, it was a special round.”
That pole position is of great importance in the Spanish race. Overtaking is traditionally tricky on the circuit near Barcelona; of the last eight races, the driver who started from the first position has won six times. Leclerc has also received proof with his fast lap in a stable car that the ‘upgrade’ that Ferrari has made to the car has worked out well.
“But I’m careful. I’m starting the race from the best position, but compared to Red Bull we’ve had a lot more trouble with tire wear so far. Max is right behind me at the start, so if I can’t keep my tires well, I lose,” said Leclerc, who is 19 points ahead of Verstappen in the World Cup position after five races. The heat in Barcelona, where the mercury has risen to 30 degrees Celsius, is adding to the difficulties. On hot asphalt, the tires of Formula 1 cars wear out even faster.