Charles Leclerc: I didn’t expect such a result at all

After the qualifying results, the Ferrari drivers found themselves on opposite sides of the starting field: while Carlos Sainz could not even qualify for the second session, Charles Leclerc showed the second fastest time, which was quite surprising.

Charles Leclerc (2nd): “Given how the weekend before had gone, I didn’t expect such a result at all. But I knew it was necessary to put everything together on the last lap, and although the car slid too much in the last corner, I think everyone faced similar problems.

I am very happy with the second result, because in the first two parts of qualifying I was even worried whether I would be able to qualify for the next session. But in the end I made it to the front row and that’s great!

For some reason our car behaves very nervously. When we rode on the rolled-in tires, the driving sensations weren’t bad, but we were in the tail end and I didn’t have much hope for anything anymore. But as soon as we put a new set of tires on it, the car seemed to come to life and I had a great lap. In general, I am happy that I showed the second result, although this is a big surprise for me.

I hope tomorrow’s race also goes well and our aim is to stay ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, so I hope Carlos gets a good start and joins me in this battle. We have to try to ensure that both Ferrari cars finish the race ahead of the Mercedes cars.”

Carlos Sainz (16th): “We were in a very disadvantageous position as we were the last to leave the pits and there were other cars in front of us on the track, and we also felt pressure because we had to start a fast lap.

The traffic situation in the first two sectors was not the best, as there were riders on the track returning to the pits after their attempts, and in my opinion they were somewhat reluctant to give way to me. But it’s our fault because we left too late, but that’s because I had a problem with the front wing, which delayed us quite a bit.

Now we have to analyze everything to understand if something could have been better, but to be honest the whole weekend as a whole is not easy because we are missing the pace.

The situation is not ideal and it will be difficult to stay ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, so the most important thing now is to understand together with the team what we can do tomorrow to earn points.”