Charles Leclerc admitted he may have gone beyond the limit in some corners during Spanish Grand Prix qualifying in Madrid, but believes he still largely maximised the potential available to him. The Ferrari driver qualified fifth, just six thousandths of a second behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and will therefore start the race from the third row.
The result understandably left Charles Leclerc subdued after qualifying, particularly given how close the leading group was. His tiny deficit to Lewis Hamilton also came against the backdrop of the different Ferrari engine specifications being used in Madrid, something the Monegasque driver said had cost him performance on the straights.
Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari maximised its Madrid qualifying potential
Speaking to Sky Italia after Ferrari’s Madrid qualifying session, Charles Leclerc explained that the overall feeling had not been particularly positive, while acknowledging the impact of the power unit specification.
“The feeling was quite bad. We definitely paid a little bit because of the power unit, but that has nothing to do with the team,” Charles Leclerc explained. “If I look at today, I think I more or less maximised everything. There was definitely still a little bit of performance here and there, because the gap to pole is only a tenth and a half.”
With the margins so small at the front, even minor imperfections carried a significant cost. Charles Leclerc nevertheless felt fifth place was a fair reflection of what he had extracted from the package and immediately turned his attention towards converting that starting position into the best possible race result.
“Fifth is what it is, and we’ll try to maximise that tomorrow. Regarding tyre degradation, I think there will be very few doubts because it will be very high for everyone. What remains to be seen is whether the track has improved over these days or whether it remains like Friday, in which case it could be very difficult.”
Charles Leclerc targets strong start with overtaking expected to be difficult
Speaking separately to Canal+, the Ferrari driver stressed the importance of making a strong start to the Spanish Grand Prix because he expects overtaking around the Madrid circuit to be particularly difficult.
“The lap was pretty OK. There were some corners where I didn’t put everything together, as I said on the radio, but I think that’s the case for everyone and I have no regrets. We’ll try to make a good start because overtaking will be very complicated,” Charles Leclerc said.
His assessment reflected the fine margins that defined the final qualifying classification. Despite not producing what he considered a completely clean lap, Charles Leclerc ended only 0.006 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton and within a tenth and a half of pole position.
Charles Leclerc admits he may have pushed beyond the limit
Charles Leclerc offered another assessment to F1TV, acknowledging that his own driving had also contributed to some of the time lost during the decisive qualifying laps.
“Maybe I went over the limit in some corners and lost a little bit. On top of that, I lose on the straights because of the engine specification, but that was down to me. I think we still did a good job and maximised our potential,” Charles Leclerc reiterated.
The fifth-place result therefore left Charles Leclerc with mixed feelings rather than outright regret. He recognised areas where his final lap could have been cleaner and pointed to the straight-line loss associated with his power unit specification, yet his overall conclusion was that Ferrari had extracted close to the maximum available. Attention now shifts to the race, where tyre degradation and the difficulty of overtaking could make the opening phase particularly important.
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