Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said it was “a shame” the team was slower than expected around the Jedda Corniche Circuit during the qualifying session.
The Monegasque qualified second for tomorrow’s Grand Prix behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who continues his domination after Bahrain.
Leclerc struggled through some of his flying laps and even said to his engineer that the car was “really difficult to drive” when he was fitted new soft compound tires.
However, the number 16 managed to pick up the pace, winning P2 over Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, for Saturday.
“The first lap [of Q3] we tried something different [than in Q1, Q2] but that didn’t work out for us, then in the second lap I put everything together,” Leclerc said in the post-session interview.
“That was everything there was in the car today [in terms of performance], so I’m really happy with the lap.
“A shame we’re a bit further [back] than what we hoped in qualifying, but tomorrow is the race so I hope we will be able to challenge the Red Bulls at the front.”
When asked if he was feeling more confident inside his SF-24 compared to Bahrain, where he faced braking issues, Leclerc said that “the car is in a better place in terms of long runs.”
“Of course, we can’t change much for tomorrow so we’ll try and optimize everything else for the race.”
F2’s Oliver Bearman will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. The Spaniard underwent surgery for appendicitis, leaving him out of the Grand Prix as he recovers.
When asked about the situation, Leclerc said he hopes “Carlos [Sainz] recovers quickly,” and then congratulated Bearman by saying, “he’s done an incredible job obviously, with only one session in FP3, he was straight up to speed and comfortable with the car, so it’s good.”
“I’m happy for him – his first race in Ferrari having done only one [practice] session… I guess it’s even more special.
“I hope tomorrow we can have a good race, both of us, and score good points for the team.”
