Charles Leclerc was second in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but due to a penalty for replacing the control electronics unit, he will start twelfth. The Ferrari driver believes that you cannot think about the fight with Red Bull Racing on Sunday, but that his partner Carlos Sainz will be able to fight for the podium.
Charles Leclerc: “I am very happy with my qualifying lap, in which I was pushed to the limit. On the other hand, the Red Bull drivers are way ahead. Our aim is to get ahead of them, but there is still a lot of work to be done. That said qualifying for us was better than we expected – we thought we would be further behind. We still have a lot to do.
I start behind, so before worrying about the speed of the opponents, I need to regain positions. The pace of the Red Bull makes a strong impression and as far as the speed of the Mercedes is concerned, it is more or less comparable to ours.
I think Carlos has a chance for the podium because he starts much closer to the leaders. As for my chances of finishing in the top three, it will be much harder to do – I have to catch up with the leaders first, but you have to keep in mind that different teams have about the same race pace.
Long distance speed seems higher than in Bahrain, so the race should be better from this point of view. However, I believe we are still far behind our rivals in qualifying, especially Red Bull.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
