Charles Leclerc

Leclerc explains Canada qualifying struggles

Martin Macdonald Saturday 8 June 2019 23:11

Leclerc explains Canada qualifying struggles

Charles Leclerc believes it was the set-up strategy of his car which is to blame for his slightly disappointing qualifying performance for the Canadian Grand Prix, as he finished third-fastest while team-mate Sebastian Vettel took pole for the first time in 17 races.

Both Ferrari drivers looked strong over the practice sessions and even in the first two-thirds of qualifying, but while Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position at the death, Leclerc was forced to settle for the second row in third.

For him, the performance deteriorated as qualifying went on despite the good start in Q1.

“I struggled with the car, with the set-up maybe.” he said after qualifying.

“I felt quite good with Q1 but then I didn't really follow the track, more the track was getting better. So I need to work on that, the set-up, and try and have the right set-up for the final Q3 time.

“I struggled today in Q3.

“Congratulations to Seb, he completely deserved it, and hopefully we'll have a better race on my side tomorrow.”

However, Leclerc did take heart from the fact that Ferrari still looked extremely quick on the straight runs.

“We were quite strong on the long run pace, and hopefully tomorrow will be the same,” he added.

Things could actually get worse for Leclerc ahead of the race tomorrow, as he faces a grid penalty by the stewards for failing to go the wrong way around a bollard while going off-track.

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Leclerc explains Canada qualifying struggles

Leclerc explains Canada qualifying struggles