Charles Leclerc managed to qualify in third position on the starting grid for the sprint race in Brazil. The Monegasque believes that Ferrari maximized the possible result this Friday, having not been able to go after the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“I'm happy because we maximized today's result”he declared following the qualifying session. “I don't think there was any possibility of doing better today. The McLarens are very fast. So yes, we are a little behind this weekend, and it will be important to take good points anyway.”
Leclerc will therefore start just behind the two MCL38s, who seem to be on a completely different pace this weekend. Asked about the possibility of being able to catch up with the papaya orange single-seaters, the driver does not want to get too far ahead, he explains however that Ferrari will do everything to challenge the British team.
“I don't like [me prononcer sur le rythme des McLaren] so early in the weekend, so we're going to do everything we can to give them a hard time.”he replied. “But given the pace they showed today, I think they were particularly strong.”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo de: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Carlos Sainz will start from fifth place, just behind Max Verstappen. Despite the difficulty in warming up the soft tires during SQ3 on a track that was significantly colder than during FP1, the Spaniard remains confident for the rest of the weekend, comparing these results to the scenario experienced in Austin.
“It was very difficult with the track temperature dropping”he declared. “It was really difficult to find the right window for the tires. We made good progress in SQ2 with the mediums. We only did one lap on these tires, which will serve us for the rest of the weekend, and then with the softs, yes, we had to find a little more time on the lap.”
“But in Austin I remember we were weak on the soft tires on Friday, and then for qualifying [de la course principale] we managed to find a little more [de performance]. So yeah, that's the plan to try to find, [en sprint] or for qualifying, something more with the softs.”
“I think that tomorrow, for the sprint, we will start in a good position”said Sainz, about his prospects for the first Brazilian event. “I think a lot of things are going to happen, a lot of unknowns. We should have fun. So yes, we have to try to have a good race, and then for the rest of the day, try to prepare for qualifying, because that's where we want to go as far forward as possible.”
With Oleg Karpov
