Leclerc delighted to pick up 'surprise' pole for US GP

Charles Leclerc admitted that he hasn't been expecting to be in contention for pole position for this weekend's United States GP in Austin, but that it has been a big surprise when they had pulled it off.

Leclerc had been second quickest behind Max Verstappen in the sole practice session at the Circuit of the Americas earlier in the day, the Ferrari driver just 0.156s behind his Red Bull rival.

Rapidly evolving track conditions at the start of qualifying dropped him down to P9,. but he was back on it in Q2 where this time it was his chance to be on top by four thousandths of a second.

But the big surprise came in the final top ten pole shootout round, where his final lap of 1:34.723s put him over a tenth clear of McLaren's Lando Norris as the chequered flag came out.

For once, Verstappen had succumbed to the pressure of the moment and a track limits violation on his final run left the Red Bull down in P6, which could prove a crucial advantage for Leclerc on Sunday.

• Read also: Leclerc on pole for United States GP as Verstappen falters

"When we get to a weekend like this, every lap counts, it’s important to start with a strong base set-up, that’s what we did,” Leclerc told the media in parc ferme after the end of qualifying..

“The car was really good and I think this is our biggest strength," he explained. "On Sprint weekends, it’s important to get it right, starting from FP1.

“I felt good straight away, so then in qualifying I tried to put it together," he continued. "The first lap felt better than the second lap but there was quite a bit of improvement, and the second lap was good enough for pole.

“It’s a surprise for us, we definitely didn’t expect to be fighting for pole position here," he admitted, adding that he'd stopped thinking about why the SF-23's performance varied so much from track to track.

"It’s very bumpy here, and the car felt good on the bumps, which gives you quite a bit of confidence to push on high speed,” he speculated. “I think we’ve learned a massive amount this season

"We learned how to maximise our car and that helped us to be more regularly at our 100 per cent, and today is again proof. It’s a good sign for the future.”

While not quite a match for his team mate today, Carlos Sainz also did well to secure a second row spot in P4 alongside Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton giving him a strong chance of a podium on Sunday.

"It wasn’t a bad qualifying," said Sainz, who is the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix race in 2023 so far. "Congratulations to Charles for grabbing pole for the team.

"I was struggling a bit in the final sector, so tomorrow I’ll try to improve there. The rest of the lap felt more or less okay and it seems we are in decent shape," he said. " We’ll try to score some good points over the whole weekend."

With the grid set for Sunday, the team can now focus on the Sprint Showdown and race on Saturday.

"Tomorrow we start from scratch again with the whole day given over to the Sprint," acknowledged Leclerc. "I love racing on this track, and the atmosphere in this city is amazing.

"But for now we can enjoy this pole position for Sunday," he added.

"Today’s pole position is a great result, down to hard work from the whole team," agreed Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur. "I am very happy for Charles, as this pole is well deserved and is a great start to his weekend.

"Today’s result means both our drivers are well placed to get a good result in the Grand Prix," he noted. "Our performance has matched our expectations, we are competitive over the whole lap, but it's too early to have a clear picture about the race."

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