Charles Leclerc and Ferrari’s second pole position of the season cannot be considered a surprise result, but after observing the expressions of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the end of qualifying in Melbourne, perhaps it is.
The second and third positions conquered by the two Red Bull drivers are certainly not a negative spoil, especially in view of tomorrow’s race, but obviously the expectations were different, and being almost three tenths behind Leclerc was not in the plans.
Three corners from the checkered flag that concluded qualifying at Albert Park, the Red Bull forecasts seemed destined to be confirmed, with Verstappen printing a time trial (1’18 “154) which seemed sufficient to guarantee a Max the first pole position of the season.
With Sainz out of the game the chances of losing pole for Red Bull had halved, but in extremis Leclerc made an exceptional paw, recovering the delay from Red Bull in three corners and printing a peremptory pole position.
The merit of Leclerc is that he was able to give everything when it was necessary to do so, but the performance of the F1-75 should also be underlined. Ferrari worked very well, finding the right compromise on the three sectors at Albert Parks and confirming perfect tire management, the latter aspect which seems to be one of the great added values of the 2022 project.
To the excellent technical cocktail was added the added value that Leclerc was able to guarantee, an extraordinary sniper in hot moments, and the result was the conquest of the second pole position of the season.
In the box of the Cavallino they worked in the right direction, responding to an evident step forward by Red Bull, which last night was able to improve the performance of the RB18 in the third sector by lowering the times by half a second.
There was a step forward, as both Verstappen and Perez confirmed, but handling (especially for Max) was never what he would have wanted.
“The whole weekend has been a bit complicated for me so far – commented the world champion – I couldn’t find a stable grip, both on the front and on the rear, and it’s not easy. For me it has been like this since the beginning of the year, I have not yet found a comfortable balance to be able to really attack the corners, especially in qualifying, but don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to talk as if I were eighteenth ”.
For the Scuderia, the bad news of the day was Sainz’s ‘no’ afternoon. The ninth position of Carlos, caused by an error in the exit of the ’10’ of the Spaniard in the last qualifying run, is the effect of a negative session in which the causes are not attributable to the Spaniard.
Sainz had everything to fight for pole, but that it wasn’t his luckiest day was clear already in the first minutes of Q3, when the flag was displayed due to Fernando Alonso’s departure from the track.
Leclerc managed to complete his flying lap (with the first set of soft) by a hair’s breadth, and Sainz was barely able to parade across the finish line. The time trial would have been the fastest (1’18 ”197, 43 thousandths faster than Leclerc, as shown on the display of his car), a basis to count on before the final assault.
Sainz cashed in, and remained focused relying on the second set of soft, without knowing that the unexpected was not over yet.
“When we were ready to go out with the last set of tires the engine did not start – explained Carlos – and I left the pits three minutes late which forced me not to be able to complete the two laps at a slow pace to warm up. tires at best. I launched after just one lap, but the tires were very cold, and from then on the lap was just lousy, I had no grip. What to say? I was fighting for pole, in the worst case scenario I would have started from the front row and would have been fighting for the victory ”.
Understandable disappointment, that of Sainz, who will be called to a comeback race tomorrow. The pace confirmed yesterday in the long-runs will allow the Spaniard to recover ground up to the threshold of the podium, but the conditions, confirmed by what we saw on the track, were different.
#Leclerc #masterful #Ferrari #pole #Red #Bull #caught #guard