Charles Leclerc endured a mixed performance during Friday's Sprint Qualifying session at the US Grand Prix, as the Ferrari driver struggled to match the pace of his rivals on the softer tyre compound.
Despite a solid start to the day which had seen the Scuderia’s drivers top the opening practice and despite displaying strong pace in the first two segments of qualifying on the mandatory medium tyre, both Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz felt less comfortable on the soft rubber.
After his single run in SQ3, Leclerc initially clocked in second behind Mercedes’ George Russell but both drivers were ultimately overhauled by Max Verstappen’s best effort.
While Leclerc was third, 0.226s behind the Red Bull pace setter, Sainz was only fifth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the two Ferraris.
“For some reason with the Softs, Mercedes really gained something that we didn’t quite have in our car,” Leclerc explained, somewhat puzzled by his car’s imbalance.
“On the Mediums we were looking good, on the Softs for some reason we didn’t have the pace to challenge for P1.”
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Leclerc also touched on the overall execution of his qualifying laps, with an error in Sector 1 proving costly for the Monegasque.
“The lap was a little bit scrappy, but it’s not like I did anything weird, it’s just that the feeling wasn’t great”, he said. “But it happens, and obviously with very limited running, it happens even more so.
“So we still have a quali tomorrow to recover, and P3 is not that bad for the Sprint Qualifying.”
©Ferrari
Looking ahead, Leclerc remains cautiously optimistic about his chances for Saturday’s Sprint event and the main Grand Prix. While he acknowledges the challenge posed by reigning champion Max Verstappen, the seven-time Grand Prix winner is hopeful.
“Max is looking very quick for now, so we don’t quite have the idea of who is going to be fast in race pace,” he said.
“So for now, quite a lot of question marks, but I hope that we can win that Sprint race at least, that would be a good sign for Sunday.”
As for Sainz, the Spaniard echoed his teammate’s comments on Ferrari’s marginally inferior performance on the Softs relative to their rivals.
“We did good laps in SQ1 and SQ2 with the Medium tyre, but we missed a bit with the Soft,” Sainz noted.
“On the last flying lap in SQ3 it was all about the slightest of details but we still have tomorrow to go at it again.
“On the race pace I think we could be competitive so I expect an interesting Sprint Race tomorrow where we will fight to gain some positions.”
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