F1 News
Leclerc admits previous struggles: "I wasn't comfortable a few races ago"
Charles Leclerc will start the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix from pole position. The man from Monaco admitted that he has previously struggled in those damp conditions. It looked like the Ferrari driver would challenge Red Bull on pure pace, but in Q3, Max Verstappen went eight-tenths faster. The Dutchman will take a five-place penalty, giving Leclerc his second pole of the year.
Struggled in the past
During the post-qualifying interviews, Leclerc admitted that he has previously struggled to get the best out of those conditions. The Ferrari driver is pleased to see his hard work pay off.
"Not a bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions where it is always tricky to put everything together. I have put a lot of work in those conditions as I wasn't comfortable a few races ago. It seems to have paid off," Leclerc said.
Leclerc found himself under pressure in the final stages of Q2 because he was in the drop zone. He managed to escape, but things could've gone wrong. "It was really tricky [in Q2]. I didn't put a lap in early, and then you have the pressure to put in a lap. It wasn't easy, but everything went well. We went a bit too early for the last run [in Q3], but the pole wasn't for us. Verstappen was too quick, we could've been closer. But we have a good starting position for Sunday," Leclerc concluded.
Leclerc won the Belgian Grand Prix in 2019 when he last started from pole position at Spa-Francorchamps. This time around, he'll have an attacking Verstappen working his way through the top five places.