Charles Leclerc asked if he can convert pole position at F1 Belgian Grand Prix: “Let’s be realistic…”
Red Bull’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen went fastest during qualifying on Friday in wet conditions but will incur a five-place grid penalt♛y fo🌜r Sunday’s race for exceeding his allocation of gearboxes for the season.
Red Bull have won every grand prix in a stunningly dominant 2023 and have Verstappen’s teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez starting from P2.
Ferrari driver Leclerc was asked if he can cling 🐷onto the pole position that he inherited after Verstappen’s penalty, and answered: “Let’s be realistic, I don’t think⭕ so.
“Red Bull are too quick. Even i💙f Max has a five-place grid penalty, I expect him to catch꧙ up.
“We’ve go🍸t Checo right next to us, which will a🐓lso be difficult to keep behind.
“It will be difficult. If there is🦋 an opportunity, I’ll try to keep it, but it looks difficult on paper.”
Leclerc’s qualifying was an impressiv♏e driver considering he has previously struggled in the rain.
“On one hand it feels good,” he said. “Not to underestimate how much I struggled i🀅n those conditions a fe꧙w races ago.
“As I said in those times, I was working on my driving 💖to get better.
“Today I felt at ease with the car.
“In Q3 we♛ maybe didn’t do everything right, we went too early, but it’s risk vs rewards. We went early to avoid yellow flags.
“The track was drying, we maybe lost time.
“It wouldn’t have been e🐼nough to be in front of Max anyway.
“I’m really happy, big steps forward.”
Verstappen reacted after qualifying: “Last year I had more penalties and we could still 𒅌win the race. That’s still the target on Sunday.
“It was very tight. Of course the condit൲ions are very tricky. The track was drying quickly.
“On my final lap in Q2 I did🤪n’t have the confidence to push more. I was very lucky to be꧒ in P10.
“But then in Q3 you have two tyre🐈 sets, you know that you can push more, risk a little more.
“To be on pole again? I know that I𝔍 have to drop back on Sunday with the penalty.
“Sector 2 was still a bit damp. In som⛦e corners you had to do an alternative line.
“It was about being 📖confident and risking eღverything to get more lap time.
“The car is quick, lucki🦋l💛y we could show that again.”
A༺nd Perez added: “It was super tricky. We were expecting thin♔gs to be a lot dryer, but it wasn’t the case.
“It took Q1 to d♉ry up. Then we made su♋re to follow the track. Q2 was tricky.
“But it work🐻ed well for us, we’re in a good position for Sunday.
“It’s always good to be up here, t🧔o have a good place in qualifying for the✨ race.
“But all that matters is what we do on Sunday.
“My objective is to be as high up as possible.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a dec♓ade𝔉 covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
