Charles Leclerc expressed a sense of relief after securing a front-row starting position for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, viewing it as a potential turning point in his recent qualifying struggles.
Friday’s practice was far from smooth sailing for the Ferrari charger who only completed three laps in the session due to a spin at Turn 16 followed by a clutch issue.
That shortfall left him on the back foot for sprint qualifying. But the Monegasque revived in a timely manner the trademark single-lap prowess that has earned him 23 career pole positions in F1.
Leclerc acknowledged that finding the optimal tyre window has been a challenge in recent races, and one that contributed to a dip in qualifying form.
This was evident in his relatively lacklustre qualifying results in Japan and in China. But he certainly felt relieved by his performance in Friday’s session.
"I am because qualifying has been a weak point for two races in a row,” he said.
"At one point in China it was a little bit better but we didn't have the car to actually show that.
"On such a difficult weekend, I had one lap in practice and go straight into quali, go straight away flat out, we are also only allowed to use one set of tyres [in each qualifying segment], so it was very, very tricky.
"But straight away I felt the feeling and that the hard work that I've done earlier in the season to try to put the tyres in the right window has paid off so I am happy.”
Leclerc said that drivers are judged on their recent performances, and even a few bad qualifying sessions can lead to criticism and speculation.
"There are so many talks now, you are only as good as your last race in this sport, so when you have two races in a row where you are bad in qualifying and haven't done a great job people start to talk so it is good to stop that.
"Now we need to work on the consistency and try to stay at that level and put those tyres consistently in the right window as I have done in the past."
The five-time Grand Prix winner isn’t sure what to expect for Saturday’s Sprint event given his lack of mileage in Friday’s practice.
"I have no idea about our race pace as I did one lap," he said. "But I really hope we can have a good sprint and have good race pace to have hopes for the win on Sunday."
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