26-time pole position holder and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc found himself in trouble even before the start of the F1 Spanish GP qualifying. As opposed to other teams, who had five sets of soft tires each for their drivers, Ferrari had just four. Despite the deficit, Leclerc did not make the job of his race engineer and strategists any easier.
The Monegasque looked nowhere near topping the lap charts right from Q1. However, the car was good enough to see both Ferrari drivers in Q3. That is where Leclerc played a huge gamble, which can make or break his Spanish GP on Sunday.
Leclerc went out for just one lap in Q3, which saw him finish P7. Despite both McLarens and Mercedes, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ahead of him, the 27-year-old never came out for a second attempt.
Speaking with Sky Sports after the F1 Spanish GP qualifying, Leclerc admitted the decision was entirely his. He revealed that the team was already on the back foot with just four sets of soft tires. However, he decided to use just three in qualifying, a gamble to save one set for the race.
“No tyres left,” revealed Leclerc when asked about his absence for a second run. “I think we were one of the only cars to have only four new sets of softs for the whole qualifying. All the others around us had five new softs.”
“So I already knew that it was going to be difficult and I wanted to only use three softs, which is making our life a lot more difficult. I take responsibility for it because the team had pushed for a different way, but I’m quite happy with my choice.”
Leclerc admitted that he had sacrificed his qualifying for the race. Now, he had no option but to hope for it to pay off. If it does not, the eight-time race winner believes he only has himself to blame.
Charles Leclerc gets Fred Vasseur’s blessing for Spanish GP gamble
Not many team principals would have approved of Leclerc’s ambitious plan, which practically requires him to sacrifice his qualifying for a potentially better result on Sunday. However, Fred Vasseur has backed his young driver, albeit with the cautious reminder of the disadvantages that stand in his way.
“I am sure that in this kind of choice, you are always plus and minus, but it can’t be plus and plus. That means that we have to do some sacrifice. But Charles was really convinced from the beginning that it was the right move,” Vasseur said during the post-Spanish GP qualifying media interaction.
“I think that the degradation will be important. We have 66 laps. I think that it will be a challenge. But now we took a decision and we have to go until the end on this direction. And it’s good to have a plan.”
