Charles Leclerc asked if he can convert pole position at F1 Belgian Grand Prix: “Let’s be realistic…”
Red Bull’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen went fastest during qualifying on Friday in wet conditions but will incur a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race for exceeding his alloc🤪ation of gearboxes for the season.
Red Bull have won every grand prix in a stunningly dominant 2023 and have Verstappen’s teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez starting from P2.
Ferrari driver Lec🔯lerc was asked if he can cling onto the pole position that he inherited after Verstappen’s penalty, and answered: “Let’s be realistic, I d♌on’t think so.
“Red Bull are too quick. Even if M🗹ax has a five-place grid penalty, I expect him to catch up.
“We’ve 🦋got Checo right next to us, which will also be difficult to keep behind.
“It will be difficult. I🎃f there is an opportunity, I’ll try to keep it, but it looks difficult on paper.”
Leclerc’s qualifying♕ was an impressive driver considering he has previously struggled in the rain.
“On on💯e hand it feels good,” he said. “Not to underestimate how much I struggled in those conditions aℱ few races ago.
“As I said in those times, I was working on my driving to get beꦐtterꦺ.
“Today I felt at ease with the car.
“In Q3 we maybe didn’t do everything right, we went t🌊oo early, but it’s ri🧸sk vs rewards. We went early to avoid yellow flags.
“The track was drying, we maybe lost time.
“It woul♌dn’t have been enough to be in front of Max anyway.
“I’m really happy, big steps forward.”
Verstappen reacted after qualifying: “Last year I had more penalties and we could still win the race. That’s sti༒ll the target on Sunday.
“It was very tight. Of course the condi🐠tions are very tricky. The track was drying quickly.
“On my final lap in Q2 I didn’t have the con✨fidence to push more. I was very lucky to be in P10.
“But then in Q3 you have two tyre sets, you know that you can push mo✃re, risk a little more.
“To be on pole again? I know that I have to drop bac♍k on Sunday with 🥀the penalty.
“Sector 2 was still a bit damp. In some corners y🧔ou ha♏d to do an alternative line.
“It was about being confident and risking everything to get moღre lap time.
“The car is quick, luckily we cou♛ld sho🐽w that again.”
And Perez added: “It was super tricky. We were expecting things to be 🃏a lot dryer, but it wasn’t the case.
“It took Q1 to dry up. Then we made sure to follow the track. Q2 w🌃as tricky.
“But it worked✃ well for us, we’re in a good position for Sunday.
🎃“It’s always good to be up here, to have a good place in qualifying for the race.
“But all that matters is what we do on Sunday.
“My objective is to be as high up as possible.”
James꧋ was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
