Charles Leclerc concedes Ferrari 'didn't know what to do' in crazy qualifying

SIngapore Grand Prix

Leclerc concedes Ferrari 'didn't know what to do' in crazy qualifying

Leclerc has taken most poles for Ferrari in a season since Michael Schumacher in 2000

Sam Hall

Saturday 1 October 2022 18:03

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Charles Leclerc has conceded Ferrari 'didn't know what to do' on a drying track in the closing stages of qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Monégasque driver scored his ninth pole position of the season with a late effort in tricky conditions on the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Although the track was primarily dry, there remained damp patches following heavy rain prior to final practice, causing confusion over whether to run intermediate tyres - as in the early phases of qualifying - or switch to softs.

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Leclerc was initially due to head out for Q3 on inters again but just as the session started, was switched onto the softs.

"It was a very tricky qualifying," said Leclerc. "Q1, Q2 with the inters and then in Q3, we didn't really know what to do. We went for the softs at the very last minute and it paid off.

"It was really tricky. I made a mistake on my last lap so I thought that we wouldn't get pole but it was just enough so I'm really happy. It was really, really special.

"Every qualifying on street tracks are super-on-the-limit and even more when it is damp like that, there are some parts of the track that are damp so you lose the rear.

"But overall, I managed to do quite a clean lap and it worked well."

Leclerc's pole means he has drawn level with Michael Schumacher's total from 2000.

After a challenging Friday during which Leclerc lost significant time in the garage with reliability issues, the pole sitter praised the recovery of his team.

"I'm very happy with this result, especially considering the Friday that we had," added Leclerc.

"We had a very limited amount of laps yesterday from some issues but we have recovered well.

"We don't have much data for the race run but if we do the perfect execution, I'm sure we can win."