Leclerc : “I stopped making predictions”
For the third time of the season, Charles Leclerc found himself in pole position at the end of the qualifying session. A result he did not expect.
In the Texan heatwave, Charles Leclerc has found his way back to pole position. It’s his first since Spa-Francorchamps and only his third of the year, he now counts 21 since the start of his career, which allows him to now overtake Damon Hill in this exercise and find himself one unit away from Fernando Alonso.
In a weekend with a specific format due to the Sprint race, he managed to get into the rhythm from the only free practice session since he set the second fastest time, behind the inevitable Max Verstappen. This could have strengthened his confidence in the car before approaching the qualifications: « The first round seemed better than the second but the track improved. »
Although he was confident and comfortable in his car, he still didn’t expect to get pole position: « I stop thinking. I stopped making predictions a long time ago because this year, I can’t understand where we are at, or anticipate where we’ll be. So I was positively surprised because even if everything was going well, I didn’t expect to get pole position. »
For once, his car did not suffer in top speed comparison because the track turns out to be very bumpy despite the work done since last year. This characteristic forces all teams to raise their single-seaters, which puts Ferrari at a lesser disadvantage: « Our car was good on bumps, which allowed us to be at the level of others. Then the car was good in slow and medium corners. This weekend, we find ourselves the best, which is a good sign. »
The Monegasque feels much more comfortable since the Grand Prix of Japan where the modifications allowed him to have a much stronger lead, which corresponds to his driving style. In total, this therefore strengthened his confidence in what he can ask of a single-seater that has often destabilized him since the start of the season.
Now comes the hardest part: turning a pole into victories. Indeed, out of these 20 pole positions, he has only managed to convert four into victories. He knows that Max Verstappen remains a threat, even if the Dutchman is only starting from sixth place.
From our special correspondent in Austin
