Will Leclerc turn his first pole into his first win?

16 comments on “Will Leclerc turn his first pole into his first win?”

1. 

   elchinero (@elchinero)
   31st March 2019, 8:52

   I expect LC to go with the normal Ferrari flow and disappear downstream without any Seb drama or handwringing … a drama free-event from the front row per orders. We’ll see about Max, Sainz, & Mag …. n Louie-Louie
2. 

   theRealMax (@millionus)
   31st March 2019, 8:59

   If the ferrari engine is so quick down the straight how come Haas are so slow.
   1. 

      Miguel Bento (@miguelbento)
      31st March 2019, 9:45

      @millionus Probably Haas went for more downforce.
      1. 

         anon
         31st March 2019, 11:03

         @miguelbento, it does indeed seem to be the case that the two Haas drivers have gone for a higher downforce set up. I believe that Auto Motor und Sport have claimed that Magnussen was matching the Red Bull drivers in terms of cornering speed, which would seem to support the hypothesis that they’ve gone for a slightly higher downforce set up than some of those around them.
3. 

   georgeboole (@)
   31st March 2019, 9:49

   What I saw on the side by side lap comparison between Vettel and Leclerc was that they were almost even in straights but Vettel was losing time in the fast turns. So I m confident Vettel was running low on drag compared to the rest of the field.
4. 

   JC
   31st March 2019, 9:51

   This could be a corker of a race. Fingers crossed for some excitement!
5. 

   ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
   31st March 2019, 10:58

   My take:
   LEC – HAM – VER – VET – BOT
   That would be the order of after 1st lap and stay that way until checker flag. Seb getting pushed early by Lewis and Max took advantage. Both Charles and Lewis play pace management after. Seb going to be much faster than Max but couldn’t passed him. Bottas will take the extra pit and get his second flap point.
   1. 

      ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
      31st March 2019, 11:32

      wait…

      “It’s not a night-and-day difference between race and qualifying set-up,” explained Valtteri Bottas. “But small things which can cost you a few hundredths in the qualifying can be a bit of a benefit with tyre life in the race.”

      Valtteri never get beaten in Bahrain in quali by his teammate for the last 7 years. Did Bottas knew something Lewis didn’t? Did he aimed to beat Lewis ‘in’ the race?
   2. 

      Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      31st March 2019, 12:26

      i don’t think Red bull are that strong here. But I think due to how easy to is to overtake gasly will be able to close up. If they finished in the order you say, I don’t think Bottas would risk pitting again for fastest lap. Gasly would likely be getting close and the Hass look really fast too.

      I think it is certainly going to be a ferrari 1 – 2. followed by the 2 Mercedes. But I’m not certain which way round the ferrari or Mercedes drivers will be.
6. 

   Drittfiske
   31st March 2019, 11:05

   I love how there’s been so much hype about Verstappen and how he’s the next big champion and then Leclerc just quietly comes along and could well win the championship this year.
   1. 

      charlie
      31st March 2019, 11:30

      +16
   2. 

      Robbie (@robbie)
      31st March 2019, 11:48

      The first thing thing you need almost always is the WCC car, or once in a while a very close second place WCC car. Max will be WDC when he has that. CL may or may not have that this year but he still has everything to prove against proven SV and LH. Let’s see the season through before we hand CL the WDC because of one pole position.
   3. 

      Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      31st March 2019, 12:20

      and i dont understand the hype about Leclerc. He got pole in the fastest car in bahrain in his first year with them. Bottas got pole in bahrain in the first year with Mercedes, then won in russia. Where was the hype about Bottas? I admit Leclerc did very well, but as he says, it is just qualifying. We have a long way to go before suggesting he has strong chance of getting the championship this year.
      1. 

         anon
         31st March 2019, 15:45

         @thegianthogweed, in the case of Bottas, that was probably because there was some criticism of his performances in Williams, where he showed a tendency to sometimes slip in performance in the latter part of the season if he started losing confidence.

         I think that did drag down expectations of his performance by the time that he ended up at Mercedes, which was probably part of the reason for the cooler reception. Bottas did still get a reasonable amount of favourable coverage, and even a few considering backing him as an outside contender for the WDC that season, but at the same time I think that there was a concern, and even an expectation, that he would start flagging towards the end of the season.

         That ties into the attitudes towards his mentality for the season, and the way that Leclerc dealt with moments of adversity and personal loss in his junior career. I think that what has excited people the most is the reserve that Leclerc has shown and the focus on self improvement in a way that somebody like Bottas has not shown.

         Some mechanics at Williams and Mercedes are supposed to have mentioned that Bottas was vulnerable to getting stuck in a rut and letting his performance dip over multiple races, whereas Leclerc has shown a degree of self discipline, perseverance and maturity for his age – he is the second youngest pole sitter on record and still one of the youngest drivers on the grid – that has won people over.

         It’s not just a case of the raw performance, therefore, but also the approach that Leclerc seems to be taking to preparing for his races that is impression people and resulting in the hype. Now, as you say, it is still a very early point in the season to be jumping to such conclusions and I would agree that we really should wait and see how he can perform over an extended run of races, but I can see why – even if perhaps it is a little premature – there might be those who are rather hyped up about him right now.
7. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   31st March 2019, 12:02

   “The DRS is more powerful so I think here we should see a lot more overtaking,” “Purely down to the DRS.”
   – Too early to judge. We shall wait and see. Maybe it isn’t going to be as bad as some have feared after all.
8. 

   Chaitanya
   31st March 2019, 14:19

   More importantly will be see a rehash of Austrian GP 2002 with Leclerc having to pull over for overglorified teammate and fearing the safety of family by threats from Mafia.

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