After Friday’s practice for the Italian GP, Leclerc was optimistic that Ferrari could secure pole position in Qualifying.
While Leclerc finished a solid P2 after his first run in Q3, he did not improve on his second and final run.
Unfortunately for Leclerc, both McLaren drivers improved on their final runs, which saw him drop down to his P4 starting position.
Leclerc feels they extracted the maximum from the car
Talking in the print media pen following Qualifying for the F1 Italian GP, Leclerc was satisfied with his lap, feeling that he extracted the maximum.
“At the end of the day, I did the lap that I wanted.
“I put everything together.
“I’m very happy with my lap, actually, and I don’t think there was much more possible, so on that I’m positive, but obviously, starting in fourth is not great.”
While the Monegasque felt that he and the team had extracted the maximum from their package, he noted that a lack of tow in his final run potentially had hindered his chances.
“I’m happy in a way that I think we’ve maximised the package that we had today.
“I think I did a really good first lap in Q3.
“Unfortunately, in the second run of Q3, I was a little bit in the front with nobody or just Yuki [Tsunoda] in front, but that makes a big difference.
“There wasn’t much more we could have done.
“I think we did a good job maximising the result.
“Now, I’ll look at it tomorrow, but I think McLaren and Red Bull are too far ahead for now.”
A potential tow from Hamilton was not discussed
Lewis Hamilton received a 5-place grid penalty after a yellow flag infringement during last week’s Dutch GP.
There was speculation about whether Hamilton would assist his teammate in Qualifying by providing a tow.
After Qualifying, Leclerc was questioned whether the option of Hamilton was discussed before the session, with the 27-year-old alluding that they opted against the tow.
“Yeah, it wasn’t decided that way, but yeah.
Asked to clarify whether it had been discussed, Leclerc stated, “Not really, no.”
The Ferrari driver added that the team would discuss the matter while emphasizing that even if a tow is provided, it’s hard to get it right.
The 27-year-old also noted that Hamilton was still fighting to start as high up as possible, given his grid penalty.
Leclerc thus feels that the lack of tow should not be the main focus point after the Italian GP Qualifying.
“Yeah, I mean it’s something we’ll discuss with the team now, but obviously it’s always tricky to get it perfectly right.
“Lewis is still fighting to start as high up as possible, so yeah, we’ll discuss it, but I don’t think it’s the main point of today.”
