Ferrari missed the final push
The 2024 season opened in the sign of Max Verstappen, who started again the way he finished the last world championship, that is, playing the role of leader. The Dutchman preceded the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who seemed disappointed with the outcome of qualifying and above all with the progress of Q3, for which he could have shown up with two sets of new tyres.
A complaint that the Monegasque underlined on a team radio, but which somehow shares his disappointment with that of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who will start from fourth position tomorrow behind George Russell. Author of the fastest lap in Q1, the Spaniard was also at ease in the following session, only to then fail to confirm himself in the third and final round, the decisive one for assigning the pole position.
An explanation, that relating to the lack of leap in quality in the most decisive moment of qualifying, which the Spanish #55 has not yet managed to provide, as admitted to the microphones of Sky Sports F1 in the paddock at the end of the session:
“We all expected Max's pole in qualifying, but after Q1 and Q2 I felt like I was fighting for pole – He admitted – then, for a reason I still don't understand, we weren't able to find the 2-3 tenths in Q3 that we normally find as a team. I did a clean and conservative lap in Q2 to save the tire for the race, without pushing hard and doing 1:29.5. Then in Q3, when I pushed instead, I did the same time, so there is something we need to understand. It was a good qualifying, I felt very good, but the Q3 didn't go perfectly“.
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