Leclerc: Forgetting perfection crucial to Belgian GP pole
Leclerc: Forgetting perfection crucial to Belgian GP pole
Charles Leclerc says abandoning the search for perfection was crucial in him securing pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Leclerc secured P1 by a huge seven tenths of a second from Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari locked out the front row.
Q3 was played out in slightly farcical scenes as drivers almost collided on several occasions trying to secure a slipstream.
And Leclerc says focusing on his own efforts, and forgoing a tow, was crucial in his success.
He said: "At first I really targeted the perfect slipstream for the first run in Q3, but after that I felt the tyres were not ready for Turn 1 and I actually lost quite a bit of time.
"For the second run in Q3 I asked to be sent whenever the car was ready, to be alone and try to do the job alone without slipstreams.
"In my opinion, on my car, it felt better to have tyres in the right window than having the slipstream so we went as soon as possible."
Given the chaos, Leclerc was shocked to end up so far ahead of Vettel: "It was very tricky, especially in Q3; I struggled quite a lot.
"The start of the lap was always very messy because there was quite a lot of traffic with all the cars around.
"But at the end I managed to do the full lap correctly. I'm very happy. I definitely did not expect to be that much ahead but very happy with my lap anyway."
Vettel made errors on both Q3 laps to hinder his pole chances and also saw attempts to secure a slipstream not go to plan.
"It was more important to get the tyres in the right position for me, or in the right place," said Vettel.
"On both laps I was too close to the cars in front and the tyres were not right to start the lap with. It was lose/lose. The straights were good but I was too close and lost quite a lot of time in sector two."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Hamilton sends strong message over Gaza deaths
- 39 minutes ago
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
- 1 hour ago
Horner admits Red Bull at MAJOR disadvantage with new rules
- 2 hours ago
Horner reveals 'unhuman' Verstappen secret
- 3 hours ago
Sainz manager speaks out on 'game playing' over contract
- Today 18:57
EXCLUSIVE: World champion reveals 'logical' winning F1 Hamilton combination
- Today 17:57
Related news
Big name driver 'very angry internally' after controversial battle
Ferrari F1 star concedes key advantage in crucial team-mate battle
Leclerc hints at early F1 RETIREMENT
Leclerc unveils AMAZING tribute for Bianchi tragedy
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860