Charles Leclerc was thrilled after claiming pole for the Italian Grand Prix, despite the clumsy events of Q3.
The Monegasque was secure in the first slot on the grid after all his challengers failed to reach the start/finish line in time as they jostled trying to get a slipstream.
And while Leclerc was obviously happy to claim his fourth pole of the year and second in a week, he was disappointed for teammate Sebastian Vettel.
“Obviously the feeling I got when I went out of the car, hearing the crowd cheer so loud is absolutely amazing,” he said.
Also Read:
- Vettel: Leclerc performance good for Ferrari in strive for progress
- Leclerc reaching Vettel’s level after Spa, sets next goal with Ferrari
“On the other hand, obviously a bit of a shame for the team because Sebastian couldn’t do his second-timed lap and he was very quick.
“I felt like maybe a 1-2 was an opportunity, even though these guys were extremely quick and it was very, very close.
“The whole qualifying was a big mess with all the slipstreaming and trying to have the best one, but I’m very happy with this pole position.”
After the session, Vettel suggested Leclerc had scuppered Ferrari’s plan for their final run by falling behind during the farcical out-lap.
And the 21-year-old did come clean afterwards.
“So to be completely honest the plan was that in the first run Seb was giving me the tow and in the second run I would give him the tow,” Leclerc explained.
“I actually went out of the box in front of him and then there was the huge mess after Turn 1 and 2 and the McLaren and the Renault, they stopped in the middle of the track and we had nowhere to go.
“Seb overtook me there with the mess because obviously, we were quite aware that it was quite tight on time and then I stayed basically behind Seb until the last straight where I heard also on the radio ‘you can overtake Seb’.
“I overtook him but then I had no time for me either to start the lap. It was a shame but I don’t think I could have done much more.”