Charles Leclerc says he thought he “lost the car” on his final lap in qualifying for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix before he was able to catch up with his Ferrari and keep the momentum for an excellent fourth on the grid – as a teammate Carlos Sainz had to regret a spin that cost him a place in the top 10.
Leclerc admitted he was taking things “step by step” to regain his confidence after falling badly in second practice on Friday, but decided to throw it all on his final lap in Q3 – and it paid off.
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“I’m a little more than pretty happy,” he said. “It’s just qualifying and the race is tomorrow, but after yesterday it was difficult to come back today and just have confidence in the car.
“I took it step by step and made it easy on the last lap in Q3, especially at Turn 22. I really thought I had lost the car.” [but] I caught it and gained a lot of lap time compared to the previous lap. I’m just really happy to start from P4 and I hope that we can maximize this result in the race tomorrow. “
He added, “It’s going to be difficult. But our race pace looks strong and I am optimistic for tomorrow. “
“Really happy” Leclerc “had to start the last lap in Q3 in Jeddah”
His team-mate Sainz looked the stronger of the two Ferrari racing drivers on Saturday, the Spaniard mighty in Q1. But after canceling a lap due to track restrictions on his first run in Q2, he lost the car at turn 11 and damaged the end plate of the rear wing.
“It’s a bit of a shame, because I came out of a very strong FP3, a very strong Q1 and suddenly this snapshot in the middle of Turn 11 cost me a whole qualifying because at the end I stabbed the wall in the rear window, which I actually didn’t feel in the car. And when I look in my mirror, the end plate is completely bent and the rear wing is not delivering the downforce that it should, ”he said.
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Saudi Arabia GP qualification 2021: Sainz knocks on the wall after a huge spin in the second quarter
“It’s something to analyze, something to examine, which I could have done differently because it’s a sudden oversteer that I didn’t expect. That corner was flat for me throughout qualifying and for some reason I lost the tail on this lap, but we’ll take a look at it and get out of it. “
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The team managed to get him back out after inspecting the damage, although there was no time for a full wing change and he was ultimately unable to improve. However, he does not let his self-confidence diminish.
“Even with a bent rear wing, I was on a very strong lap before the rear wing really gave up,” said Sainz, who ended up in 15th place. “The trust was there all weekend, it was actually there for the last four weekends. I was really strong in qualifying, Q1 was really strong here, so a little bump in the ground, but to be honest, I feel good. “
