Charles Leclerc: “Qualifying will not be as relevant due to our penalty”

Charles Leclerc admitted it was good to be back driving after the summer break, although he knows he will have a tough Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday thanks to grid penalties for unscheduled engine component changes.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver is one of six drivers that will go into Saturday’s Qualifying session knowing they will fall to the back of the grid thanks to the penalties, although another one of those is his main rival for the World Championship, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Leclerc felt he had a solid Friday at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing second in both sessions, although he knows Saturday will see him focusing on race pace knowing where he will be starting.

“It feels good to be back in the car after the break,” said Leclerc.  “We completed a solid number of laps while running in variable conditions, with rain coming and going in different parts of the track.

“It’s still difficult to determine the pecking order for this weekend, as all teams ran completely different programmes.

“Our main focus will be on race pace tomorrow, as qualifying will not be as relevant due to our penalty.”

“I’m confident we know where to find the lap time for tomorrow” – Carlos Sainz Jr.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. topped the first session on Friday but slid to fifth in the second, although the Spaniard says he is confident a strong weekend is possible.

Sainz will be Ferrari’s only hope for pole position at Spa-Francorchamps thanks to Leclerc’s penalty, and he believes he can be in the fight despite losing some of the positive feeling he had in the car in the opening session due to changes made ahead of the second session.

The Spaniard has one pole position already so this season – which came in the British Grand Prix – and he converted that to his maiden victory.

“Overall it was a good Friday,” declared Sainz.  “In FP1 I felt comfortable with the balance of the car.  For FP2 we tried some changes which didn’t really work as expected and we lost the feeling a bit.

“However, I’m confident we know where to find the lap time for tomorrow and the long run pace was also ok, so I believe we are in a good place for the rest of the weekend.”

Carlos Sainz Jr is Ferrari’s only chance of starting at the very front of the field on Sunday after Leclerc’s penalty – Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office