Charles Leclerc rued opting to abort a second flying lap on his first run of Q3 after missing out on pole at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver set the pace in Friday’s wet practice and in Q1, when conditions were just dry enough for slicks, but bad luck intervened in the final top 10 shootout as three red flags limited drivers to just their first run.
During that early flurry of action, Max Verstappen would manage two laps to ultimately set the pole position time by 0.7s while Leclerc only chose to do one.
“Qualifying didn’t end exactly as I wanted it to,” he acknowledged.
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“It was very tricky, especially on the slicks because there were quite a lot of wet patches. Q1 and Q2 were all about making it through to Q3, and then pushing hard.
“I did one strong lap in the last session, then decided to abort my second lap to save the tyres for my last two runs at the end of Q3, unfortunately, that never happened because of the red flags.
“This is why it’s even more frustrating for me because when it counted in Q3 I did the wrong choice,” he admitted. “But it’s life.”
Well, that’s P2 for tomorrow’s sprint race ! A bit disappointed but it is the way it is. Still a long weekend ahead ?
Grazie mille a tutti i tifosi per il sostegno e per essere venuti in pista anche se il tempo non era top ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/FTyiaQlJ7Q— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) April 22, 2022
Ferrari has looked the strongest package so far at Imola though, and the Monegasque is hopeful he can undo the damage across the Sprint and Grand Prix.
“It’s a shame, but everything is still possible. We’ve been competitive in all sessions so far and have the potential to fight for the win tomorrow,” Leclerc said.
“At the end, P2 is not a disaster. [There is still] everything to play for tomorrow – and after tomorrow – and we’ll give everything.”