Max Verstappen is still the fastest
Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc failed to triumph at the Maranello team’s home circuit, and the Italian side is left bitter about yet another wasted opportunity on Saturday. Despite their dominance in the free practice sessions for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the very effective updates, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz couldn’t secure pole position at their home track in Imola.
Not only that, they won’t even start from the front row: fourth fastest time for Charles Leclerc and fifth for Carlos Sainz. The gap to Max Verstappen is just a couple of tenths, but it’s enough to be disappointing. Both drivers could gain a position if Oscar Piastri is penalized for a possible impeding, but that’s not enough to see the glass as half full.
The problems: first sector and curbs
“Both Carlos and I were close,” commented Charles Leclerc to Sky Sport F1 immediately after Q3, “but we don’t understand what’s missing in turns 2 and 3 or the first sector. Tire preparation is important, but it’s strange. We tried many things,” the Monegasque driver revealed, “but it’s always the same problem in the same corners. We’ll keep looking at this aspect; it’s not something new we’re discovering now: we’ve been struggling with it for a few GPs and we need to improve.” – the Ferrari driver pointed out.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Finally, the Monegasque compared how the SF-24 tackles the curbs to Max Verstappen’s RB20, once again unbeatable in qualifying: “We know that a strength of the Red Bull is how much they can push on the curbs. I don’t know how much Max takes the curbs in turns 2 and 3, but I know he was taking them a lot in previous weekends. I tried too, but with our car, we can’t do the same thing for now. We’ll look at it, but the trend has been like this for a few races.” – Charles Leclerc concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
