Formula 1 Belgian GP
Leclerc: Work on mixed condition weakness "paid off" at Spa F1
Charles Leclerc says the work he did to improve his weakness in mixed conditions has paid off as he inherited pole for Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix.
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Jul 29, 2023, 4:44 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Leclerc took second in Friday qualifying for Sunday's race, ceding eight tenths to Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Q3 on a drying track.
But as Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for taking his fifth gearbox of the season, one more than is allowed, Leclerc will line up first on Sunday.
After recently admitting he was struggling in mixed-weather conditions, particularly with finding grip on slicks on a damp circuit, Leclerc thought his performance in Q3 was a reward for his efforts to cure that weakness.
"Not bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions," Leclerc said.
"It is always tricky to put everything together. I put a lot of work in those conditions, as I wasn't really comfortable a few races ago. And it seems to pay off.
"We went a bit too early for that last run, but pole was definitely not for us today.
"Max was too quick, but we could have been a bit closer. Having said that we have a great starting position for Sunday."
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Erik Junius
Leclerc was hindered on his first Q2 flyer by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who stuck to the racing line after hitting the wall and damaging his car, for which the Dane was summoned by the FIA stewards.
"It was really tricky. I had Kevin also that went in the wall and then continued in front of me," Leclerc added.
"So I didn't put a lap in early and then you've got all the pressure on that last lap that, and in those conditions it wasn't easy.
"But at the end, everything went well. So yeah, happy.
"Having said that, there's still quite a bit of work to do in order to catch the Red Bulls."
Read Also:
- Hamilton, Russell summoned over Spa F1 qualifying incident
- F1 qualifying results: Leclerc to start Belgian GP from pole
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 Hamilton, Russell summoned over Spa F1 qualifying incident
Next article Verstappen "lucky" to survive Q2 in Belgian GP F1 qualifying
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
Formula 1
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
F1 signs historic 10-year Rwanda deal to host African Grand Prix
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 signs historic 10-year Rwanda deal to host African Grand Prix
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
7 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 8 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
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