Leclerc in aanloop naar race in Canada — Photo: © LAT Images

Belgian Grand Prix

Leclerc reveals Ferrari MISTAKE in Belgian GP qualifying

The Monegasque driver will start on pole for Sunday's feature race

Chris Deeley

Friday 28 July 2023 19:12

Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari went a little too early for their final run in qualifying, despite his lap netting him pole position for Sunday's feature race.

Leclerc put in the second fastest lap of the session, although he was close to a second slower than Max Verstappen, but will start at the head of the field on Sunday thanks to the Red Bull driver's grid penalty.

The rain-affected session kept drivers and teams guessing, and a group of drivers crossing the line for their final laps with just seconds to spare.

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It looked like McLaren's cars were most likely to challenge Verstappen and his team-mate Sergio Perez, but Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris could only go sixth and seventh fastest – leaving Leclerc clear to challenge.

Perez qualified just behind Leclerc to secure his best start since his pole position in Miami.

Leclerc: Still work to do

"Not a bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions it's always tricky to put everything together. I put a lot of work in those conditions as I wasn't comfortable a few races ago and it seems to have paid off.

"We went a bit too early for that last lap, pole was definitely not for us today and Max was too quick. We could have been a bit closer but we have a great starting position for Sunday.

"Q2 was really tricky. I had Kevin who hit the wall and then continued in front of me. I didn't put a lap in early and then you have all the pressure on that last lap. I'm happy but there is still quite a bit of work to do to catch the Red Bulls."