Charles Leclerc ‘disappointed and angry’ after failing to take pole position at Singapore GP
Ferrari qualified ninth and tenth for the Singapore Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz respectively.
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Charles Leclerc (via IMAGO)
Ferrari refound its performance after the summer break and became a regular contender for podiums and wins. With the prancing horses rolling up to the Singapore GP weekend, they had high expectations as the SF-24 is known for favoring tracks that are bumpy in nature. However, this advantage went down the drain as Charles Leclerc had a terrible last lap leaving him dejected, he managed a P9 starting position.
Charles Leclerc has been a pole-sitter in Singapore in 2019 and 2022. Despite this, the Monegasque has never won a race around the Marina Bay circuit. To change this unfortunate statistic, Leclerc aimed to clinch pole around the street track and wanted to be at the forefront to have a greater chance at winning the race.
Though during free practice sessions, he displayed great strength, the 26-year-old had a terrible run in qualifying as his final push lap was deleted because of track limits.
I don't want to talk about the race, now. I'm too disappointed - we know how important qualifying is on this track, right now I'm just angry, I don't want to think about what can be done starting from P9. We had potential and for some reason we wasted it.Charles Leclerc said in a post-qualifying interview
The Ferrari driver claimed that he was disappointed with his result and expressed his frustration. He asserted how he had the potential of bagging the fastest lap but ruined his chances by running wide in turn two, which subsequently deleted his lap time. On the other hand, this aided other drivers as Lando Norris emerged as the pole-sitter in an extremely close qualifying session.
An extremely bad day in the office for the Maranello-based Ferrari
Apart from Leclerc’s trouble, Ferrari did not have a great qualifying session. Mid-way through Q3, Carlos Sainz had a hefty crash while starting his flyer, this took away his chance to take the pole at the circuit at which he had won last year.
Subsequently, the Spaniard explained the events that led up to his crash.
I had a very strange incident in Q3. I had to let a few cars by and had cold tyres. I underestimated the cold tyres launching the lap. It shows how tricky it is with the tyres.Carlos Sainz said in a post-race interview
The 30-year-old reckoned that his incident was a strange one as he lost the rear end of the SF-24 at an unordinary place. Sainz then revealed that his tires were extremely cold to create a gap to start his lap. Consequently, he underestimated the lack of grip from the tires, which made him lose traction and was the reason for him to end up in the barriers.
On the other hand, Sainz’s SF-24 would go through intensive check-ups to ensure that the car is in a safe state to race tomorrow. Otherwise, the Spaniard might start the race from the pitlane, further reducing his chances of getting a solid result from the weekend.
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Geetansh Pasricha
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