The Ferrari driver was the fastest in an exciting qualifying on Saturday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and ended up 0.323 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. The Dutchman had a problem with his DRS device at the end of the session. Third place went to local hero Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari, fourth was George Russell in the Mercedes.
Leclerc took his 13th career pole position and fourth of the year with just one attempt remaining after spinning on his first outing in the final session of qualifying. Before the sixth round of the season, the Monegasse has a 19-point lead over defending champion Verstappen in the overall standings.
“I made a mistake early in Q3 and only had one lap, but it went extremely well and I could confirm that. The car was fantastic,” said Leclerc. Verstappen was slightly sour after the technology intervened and robbed him of his pole chance. “Either the DRS didn’t work or I just lost power,” said the Dutchman. “To be in the front row is definitely a good result.”
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko confirmed in an ORF interview that Verstappen’s “Drag Reduction System” (DRS) was affected. According to the Styrian, there is no fundamental problem with the drive. “Everything was okay with the engine, there was a mechanical defect in the rear wing. It worked on the second try,” said Marko. “After it worked again later, it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. But it’s a shame because pole was in there.”
Sainz was unable to match his Ferrari teammate Leclerc at his home grand prix. He addressed the difficult conditions with a track temperature of almost 50 degrees and changing winds. “But it’s a good starting position. I think anything is possible tomorrow. We’ll try our best,” said the 27-year-old, whose father, ex-world rally champion Carlos Sainz, presented Leclerc with the trophy for pole position.
Russell’s fourth place on the grid is another indication of the upward trend at Mercedes. “We were a second away, now we’re a bit closer. Now you just have to work stone by stone, get closer and try to be at the front again in a few races,” explained team boss Toto Wolff.
In the third row on Sunday (3 p.m./live ORF 1 and Sky) are Sergio Perez in the Red Bull and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) also qualified in the top ten. The ex-world champions Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin/16th) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine/17th), on the other hand, had to get out of their cars after the first qualifying segment.
Source: Nachrichten
