“We are stronger here,” Charles Leclerc optimistic after a strong finish the Pole position at the Dutch GP
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Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc was in contention for the Pole position at the Dutch GP. Friday for the Ferrari didn’t really go as they expected it to, with Mercedes leading the pack and Ferrari not really having the pace to fight for the Pole on Saturday. Though things seemed pretty good on Saturday morning when Leclerc managed to lead the pack ahead of both the Red Bulls and Mercedes.
As the main event on Saturday started, Ferrari still looked dissatisfied with their pace when Leclerc almost got his hands off the barrier of getting eliminated in Q1. He anyhow managed to get in the top 5 but the pace difference between the Bulls and Ferrari was quite significant. Though Ferrari just got stronger as the session progressed. Carlos Sainz topped the list in Q2 and Leclerc was a step back from Max Verstappen.
The final session began with Leclerc taking the provisional pole. Ferrari and Charles looked very strong by the end of the session and started the final lap of the day. Charles managed to get a decent hot lap that took over Verstappen. Anyhow, Max did get the Pole by only a margin of 0.021 seconds to Charles on P2.
With the closest margin to pole for the season, Charles is very optimistic for his Sunday as his car showed a good amount of pace in comparison to Red Bull. “Very, very close. Max did a great lap in the end. Our car was getting better and better through qualifying and at the beginning I was scared because Max was much quicker than us on used tyres, but then in Q3 the car came a bit more together,” said Charles in the post-Quali interview.
Also Read : “Perez spun to protect Max,” Netizens critical of Max Verstappen’s suspicious POLE on home turf
Charles Leclerc fighting for the win on Sunday
Charles Leclerc was trashed by Max Verstappen at the Belgian GP. Max dominated Spa winning the race by 18 seconds to his teammate on P2 and 26 seconds to the nearest Ferrari on P3. The Italian team was not even in a competing position with Mercedes at Spa.
With that speed deficit, at Zandvoort, Max would leave no evidence after slashing through Ferrari being his home race. But Saturday was a good ray of hope for the Ferrari’s being on the level of Red Bull.
“I managed to do that lap that was P2. Tomorrow is the race and we will give it everything. We are much stronger here than last weekend which is good to see and for tomorrow our race pace looks quite strong. It’s going to be close with RED BULL. We just need to do a great start and then we will see,” said Charles.
Ferrari is not really in a title-winning position after a defeat in Belgium. With a difference of 118 points to Red Bull, the most they could hope for is a win at the rest of the tracks starting with the Dutch GP, Max Verstappen’s home.
Also Read: “Sir Max or Lord Max,” Christian Horner jokingly congratulates Max Verstappen on his national honour
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Soham Raj Jain
(480 Articles Published)