Although Saturday’s track action took place in wet but dry conditions, Ferrari opted for a race-focused setup on Leclerc’s car that will help increase its speed on the straight in Sunday’s race.
However, this decision made it more difficult for Leclerc to get temperature in his rubber during Saturday’s qualifying sessions. But after a helpful haul of team-mate Carlos Sainz, he made it into Q3 and then at the very end set the fourth fastest time.
With Lewis Hamilton dropping from pole position to 11th on the grid, it means Leclerc will start third and be in good shape as long as things stay dry.
About the choice of the wing level, Leclerc said: “I knew it would be a difficult session for us because we decided to choose a setup with low downforce for this qualifying for tomorrow.
“At some point I think it will be the right choice, but it would be difficult for today.
“Well in Q2, of course thanks to Carlos for the towing, otherwise, in my opinion, it would have been a bit tighter to get into Q3 with the traffic that I had in the last three corners.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, is recovering from a spin
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Ferrari’s strong pace – in the end he was only 0.267 seconds slower than Pole man Valtteri Bottas – often surprised the leading Mercedes and Red Bull teams by a clear margin.
When asked why he feels the Ferrari is working so well in Istanbul, Leclerc said: “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure.
“It’s also a bit weird to be honest, because the midfield seems to be working quite well too. We’re very close to pole position, everyone is, so it’s good to see that.”
While optimistic about his prospects for the race, Leclerc said he wouldn’t try anything stupid against the Mercedes and Red Bull cars ahead in the title fight.
“I’m not going to take too many risks with those two at first,” he said. “We don’t fight them in the championship. The starts are always difficult, but I won’t risk too much.”
