Charles Leclerc couldn’t have thought of a better gift for Ferrari on his 100th Formula 1 race weekend as a Prancing Horse driver.
The pole position achieved today at the United States Grand Prix is the third of his season, but it is also the certification of a fact: the complicated period experienced in the summer seems to have been definitively put behind him.
With the latest changes made to the SF-23 – no more are expected to arrive this season – the car now seems to be closer to the preferences of the Monte-Carlo native driver. The result is an exceptional pole because it was unexpected, but the result of a time trial, 1’34″723, the result of multiple factors.
First of all, a newfound confidence with the vehicle, the SF-23, one of the least successful single-seaters of the Prancing Horse but which was improved significantly during the season and is now in full battle for second place in the Constructors’ World Championship with Mercedes .
“I am very happy with the pole because this is not a year in which I feel good with the car, but in the second part of the season we worked a lot and managed to improve and now I feel it is closer to my preferences”, admitted Leclerc to the Sky microphones once qualifying in Austin was over.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
“We are making progress. We shouldn’t draw conclusions too early, today went well, everything was nice, but we have to wait for Sunday, these are just qualifying, but I will try to do my best.”
Over the course of the entire season, Ferrari has often done well on weekends where the format is not the usual one, but includes the Saturday Sprint. Leclerc did not hesitate to give credit to his team, which over the course of the week did a great job to best prepare for a weekend in which the time for set-up on the track is laughable.
“I don’t know, I think the team did a great job. We know that on sprint weekends it’s more important than ever to do a good FP1, as we did in this case.”
“We started with a good base thanks to what the guys did to prepare for this weekend. The car seemed good from the start, I felt comfortable. I was happy during the whole qualifying, during the last lap In Q3 I made some mistakes, but it was difficult for everyone. I’m happy to start on pole on Sunday.”
Leclerc will start from the dirty side of the track on Sunday. Today, however, it seems not to want to give weight to this significant detail, thinking above all of the result obtained. A joy due to the unexpected pole achieved and the certainty that, at least on the flying lap, the potential also seems to be there on a track which, at least on paper, is not very favorable to the 2023 Rossa.
“In Turn 1 it’s always difficult here, but it’s also better to start from the front than from the back. I’m very happy, I love this track, the atmosphere of the city. I’m happy to be here”, concluded Charles.
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