Charles Leclerc shows enough speed to win the front row in qualifying for the F1 Saudi Arabia GP, and it will be possible to catch up with the leading forces in the final round starting from the 12th grid because PU swap penalty, but Coch Tarw is “another dimension.” he admits. Max Verstappen dominated all three practices, but a driveshaft problem in Q2 brought Saturday’s qualifying to end prematurely The race in Jeddah will start from 15th on the grid.
Instead, Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez took pole position on Saturday. This is the second time in his career, both in Saudi Arabia. Ferrari looked sluggish throughout the practice session, but Leclerc put in a great lap at the end of Q3, finishing 0.155s behind Perez and setting the second fastest time in qualifying. However, Leclerc has entered the weekend with a 10-grid penalty already confirmed, as he has given a third electronics control, more than his share of the season, and will start from 12th on the grid in the race. That leaves him with Verstappen in Jeddah to aim for top spot, but Leclerc said he doubts Verstappen will be able to keep up with Red Bull in the race even if he starts behind him. “Happy? Yes and no,” said Leclerc after qualifying. “I think it’s been a very difficult weekend in terms of speed, but I’m very happy with my lap. I think I’ve given everything,” he said. “On the other hand, Red Bull is on another level and we are struggling a bit. , we need to keep pushing, that’s what we do as a team.” “It won’t be easy tomorrow. We have a 10 grid penalty, so we will start a bit further back. But we will not focus on the race again. And hopefully we can get back to the front as soon as possible. ” In terms of pace during the race, the chasing pack behind the Red Bull looked very even. In FP3 on Saturday, the drivers from 3rd to 17th were only six tenths of a second apart. Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz do not know how far Ferrari are compared to their rivals, but they expect a close race in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. “The pace of the race looked pretty good, but in FP2 everyone has a completely different program so it’s very difficult to compare. “But it won’t be easy as everyone feels very close at the pace of the race.”
