Formula 1 Miami GP
Leclerc: Front row in Miami F1 sprint qualifying 'stops people talking'
Charles Leclerc feels qualifying on the front row for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix sprint race halts his dip in form and 'stops people talking'.
Haydn Cobb
Edited: May 4, 2024, 1:30 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Ferrari driver completed just three laps in practice after spinning at Turn 16 and suffering a clutch issue at the Miami track.
But having been a prolific qualifier in his F1 career, with 23 pole positions, Leclerc admitted he was struggling to find the right window with the tyres in qualifying which was partly blamed for a poor run of form.
Leclerc qualified seventh for the Chinese sprint race and sixth for the Chinese GP, while he was eighth in Japanese GP qualifying.
When asked if he was relieved by his Miami sprint qualifying performance, he replied: "I am because qualifying has been a weak point for two races in a row.
"At one point in China it was a little bit better but we didn't have the car to actually show that.
"On such a difficult weekend, I had one lap in practice and go straight into quali, go straight away flat out, we are also only allowed to use one set of tyres [in each qualifying segment], so it was very, very tricky.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
"But straight away I felt the feeling and that the hard work that I've done earlier in the season to try to put the tyres in the right window has paid off so I am happy.
"There are so many talks now, you are only as good as your last race in this sport, so when you have two races in a row where you are bad in qualifying and haven't done a great job people start to talk so it is good to stop that.
"Now we need to work on the consistency and try to stay at that level and put those tyres consistently in the right window as I have done in the past."
Despite his strong qualifying position, Leclerc says he goes into the Miami sprint race blind about his race pace due to no long running in practice.
"I have no idea about our race pace as I did one lap," he said. "But I really hope we can have a good sprint and have good race pace to have hopes for the win on Sunday."
Read Also:
Formula 1Norris: Miami sprint qualifying tumble down to "pushing too hard"
Formula 1Verstappen surprised "terrible" lap was enough for Miami F1 sprint pole
Formula 1F1 Miami GP: Verstappen on sprint pole, Mercedes out in SQ2
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Norris: Miami sprint qualifying tumble down to "pushing too hard"
Next article Bottas hit with grid penalty for impeding Piastri in F1 sprint qualifying
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Haydn Cobb
Lewis Hamilton on why he is “built differently” to stay in F1 for the “foreseeable future”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
18 h
Lewis Hamilton on why he is “built differently” to stay in F1 for the “foreseeable future”
McLaren to use final 2026 developments to test 2027 F1 car concepts
Formula 1
Formula 1
McLaren to use final 2026 developments to test 2027 F1 car concepts
More from
Charles Leclerc
George Russell predicts key Ferrari "advantage" at F1 Mexican GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
George Russell predicts key Ferrari "advantage" at F1 Mexican GP
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
More from
Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton "praying" for Ferrari power unit after Mexico FP2 failure
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
12 min
Lewis Hamilton "praying" for Ferrari power unit after Mexico FP2 failure
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Latest news
Alex Marquez considering surgery next week, could miss Qatar GP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 min
Alex Marquez considering surgery next week, could miss Qatar GP
Lewis Hamilton "praying" for Ferrari power unit after Mexico FP2 failure
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
12 min
Lewis Hamilton "praying" for Ferrari power unit after Mexico FP2 failure
Marc Marquez explains low-risk strategy after extending MotoGP points lead in Malaysia sprint
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
24 min
Marc Marquez explains low-risk strategy after extending MotoGP points lead in Malaysia sprint
Jack Miller explains pitlane outburst: "We look like w***ers"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
59 min
Jack Miller explains pitlane outburst: "We look like w***ers"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe