Leclerc tempted fate by admitting SHOCK at Ferrari luck

Charles Leclerc has expressed surprise at his strong result from qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, admitting that he didn’t think the team expected ‘to be so close to the Red Bulls’.

However, as soon as he expressed a touch of positivity things went back to normal – picking up a three-place penalty for Saturday afternoon's sprint race after being adjudged to have impeded another driver in the sprint shootout.

Ferrari have had a difficult season so far, with the one highlight being Leclerc making it to the podium in Azerbaijan.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz has suffered an even worse season, with his best result of P4 only achieved once, in the first race of the season.

Their luck may be turning, however, after the Monegasque driver was able to stay close enough to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull to take P2 for Sunday’s race.

Sainz was also strong in qualifying as he finds himself lining up in P3 for lights out.

Leclerc told DAZN ES the result is a ‘good sign’. He said: “It feels good to finally have a clean qualifying again and to be on the front row.

"Back on the front row. I’ve been better on the last few races. In Q1 and Q2 it was all about building up to that Q3.

"I have managed to put everything that I wanted in that last lap of Q3. Very close to Max, although not enough today.

“Overall I don’t think we expected [before qualifying] to be so close to the Red Bulls, so it is a good sign forward.”

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