Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari can BEAT Verstappen after claiming shock Monza pole

Max Verstappen talking with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in Austria — Photo: © LAT Images

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Leclerc believes Ferrari can BEAT Verstappen after claiming shock Monza pole

Ferrari feel destined to beat Red Bull at Monza on Sunday

Jay Winter

Sunday 3 September 2023 07:27

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is holding onto a strong belief that his team can triumph over Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix, despite the predictive data suggesting otherwise.

The Ferraris are split by the Dutch world championship leader after Carlos Sainz secured pole position with an impressive time of 1:20.294. Max Verstappen was hot on his heels with a time of 1:20.307, while Leclerc clinched the third spot on the grid with a time of 1:20.361.

Despite Ferrari's metrics pointing towards yet another Verstappen win, Leclerc has a gut feeling that they will stop the two-time world champion from breaking the record of most consecutive Grand Prix wins.

"I want to believe we can beat Max tomorrow," he told Sky Italia.

"I have something inside me that makes me think we can do it even if the data say otherwise."

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Sainz has dominated the weekend so far, topping the timing charts in FP2, FP3 and Qualifying

Leclerc 'ended up alone'

Leclerc also opened up on his qualifying strategy, admitting that he had "priority" over Sainz this weekend.

"I left the pit lane first, not to give the slipstream to anyone," he said.

"I had the 'priority' this weekend, so I chose to go first. But I still wanted a few cars in front, but no one was there, so I ended up alone."

Despite missing out on pole position, Leclerc expressed his satisfaction with his own performance and praised his Spanish team-mate.

"I'm still happy with what I did today," he said.

"I'm happy for Carlos and what he achieved with the team today, and he deserves it. Hopefully, we can do great things tomorrow."

The Italian Grand Prix promises an exciting race day, with Ferrari boasting a phenomenal straight-line pace, 'the temple of speed' looks to be the perfect stage for the Prancing Horse to become the first and only team to beat Red Bull this season.