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Charles Leclerc surprised Max Verstappen was slower in F1 Monza qualifying

Leclerc reveals how Ferrari can compete for the victory: 'Need to do this'

31 August at 21:30
  • Nicole Mulder

Charles Leclerc made rare critical comments on his radio during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was not happy with the feeling of his SF-24, but nevertheless will start from the second row in the Scuderia's home race. He looks ahead to the race, and reveals whether or not he is expecting to either attack or defend at the 'Temple of Speed'

Leclerc is certain it will be a close race

"I want to look forward, not backwards," reads Leclerc's clear answer to a question from GPblog. "There are quite a lot of guys that are super quick and that I would have expected to be in front of us today. But at the same time, I think we can have a good race. There weren't too many differences of pace, apart from Lewis, that did a really strong race pace in FP2," says Leclerc, who is expecting the top teams to all be on a similar level in the race.

How can Ferrari fight for the victory tomorrow?

When asked what it would take to fight for victory, the Monegasque replied, "A good start and then try and use that DRS to try and stay within the McLaren, which we expect to be very, very strong. And then it will be a tyre management race. Everybody, I think, as I said, has a very similar pace. Apart from any surprises tomorrow, I think we are all pretty similar. However, we've got to do a good job time management-wise because this is what will make the difference tomorrow."

Leclerc left surprised by Red Bull's result

Leclerc was surprised by the fact that both Red Bulls are behind him on the grid, though. He therefore expects Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to come out stronger during the race. "I think they will be strong. I think they will be strong tomorrow. However, I don't expect them to be much stronger than we are in the race. So, yeah, we shouldn't look backwards, but we'll try to look forward and hopefully go and win that race." The Ferrari driver concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon


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