Charles Leclerc thanked team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. for giving him a welcome tow during Qualifying for the French Grand Prix on Saturday, with the Monegasque using the tow to take him to pole position.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver admitted he was struggling for balance for much of the weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard leading up to Qualifying, and he knew any kind of mistake when it came to tyre management would open the door to his rivals.
Nevertheless, Leclerc stormed to pole position – his seventh of the season and sixteenth of his FIA Formula 1 World Championship career – although he knows Oracle Red Bull Racing, and in particular Max Verstappen, will come back fighting on Sunday.
“Leading up to this afternoon, it had been quite a difficult weekend for me,” said Leclerc. “I struggled with the balance and knew that in this kind of heat, you pay the price for the smallest mistake because your tyres overheat.
“Today, I felt good building up to that last lap in Q3. Carlos gave me a nice tow, which helped me to have a bigger margin and seal pole position. It was a good qualifying with great teamwork behind it.
“Our competitors are extremely strong here. It seems that they have an advantage in terms of race pace, but I’m confident we can turn it around and hopefully we will keep that first place tomorrow.”
“Today was all about helping the team maximise the result” – Carlos Sainz Jr.
Team-mate Sainz was pleased to be able to help the team maximise their potential during Qualifying, even if his chances of starting at the front were gone before a wheel was turned in anger.
Sainz knew he would be starting at the back of the pack on Sunday following a raft of engine component change penalties, and the plan was to get into Q3 with the minimum number of laps possible to give Leclerc help.
The Spaniard knows it will be difficult to climb from nineteenth on the grid on Sunday afternoon, but he will be hoping to use the pace advantage he has shown with his Ferrari this weekend to move up the order and fight back into the points.
“Given I’ll serve the penalty tomorrow, today was all about helping the team maximise the result and we executed a strong Qualifying,” said Sainz. “The plan was to go through Q1 and Q2 with only one attempt and then use Q3 to give a tow to Charles, which we did perfectly as a team.
“I’m happy because of that and because I’ve been fast and comfortable on track the entire weekend. In Q2 I pushed a bit more to test the limits and the time was very competitive. I would have obviously liked to do a normal session, but I prefer to take the positives as we keep taking steps in the right direction.
“We know that tomorrow won’t be an easy race but I’m looking forward to it. We will have to manage the tyres carefully while trying to move up the order, but I’m ready for it!”
Carlos Sainz Jr. will start nineteenth in France after his grid penalties are applied – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd