Charles Leclerc said he was surprised his final lap in Q3 was quick enough for pole position after making at least two significant mistakes.
“It was quite a crazy lap,” said the Ferrari driver after taking his fifth pole position of the season. “The first one I compromised it, I started the lap too close to Lewis [Hamilton] and that compromised the second sector.“So then I had quite a bit of pressure to perform on the last lap so I gave it all. There were quite a bit of mistakes I lost the car quite a few times and I’ve seen myself in the wall at least twice or three times in the lap.
“But it felt amazing, the car was great. Friday was a very difficult day for me and to come here and qualify and do the pole position feels absolutely amazing.”
Leclerc said there were two many points on his lap when he thought he was going to hit the barrier. “It [was] the exit of turn three and exit of turn 11. These ones were quite big times.
“I was actually quite surprised I didn’t lose so much time by losing it that much. But everything after that went smooth and I was just giving it all. So it’s all quite intense in the car.”
Ferrari arrived in Singapore expecting a difficult weekend on a high-downforce track having struggled on similar circuits recently. Leclerc said he was “very surprised” to have taken his third pole position in a row.
“Even though we knew that there was a bit more to come yesterday we did not expect to challenge either the Mercedes [or] Red Bull. So it’s quite a surprise for the whole team.
“But it just proves how good a job they’ve done back at the factory. Today it’s also thanks to them that we’re on pole.”
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Only Facts!
21st September 2019, 17:27
Way to go boy! No blaming on the car, no blaming on the tyres, just trying to do the best!
Anyway, impressive work at the back office from Ferrari. Instead of the expected Mercedes-Red Bull-Mercedes we were all waiting for, we got Ferrari-Mercedes-Ferrari!!!
Sure tomorrow is going to be all about tyres, strategies and pit stops under the safety car.
But what a race this one will be.
erikje
21st September 2019, 17:44
looking at the onboard it really was quite a messy lap. With some mistakes and a lot of wheelspin. Unbelievable he managed to put that time on the clocks.
Luck and talent in the right amounts.
hamiledon
21st September 2019, 18:48
This time Ferrari brought good updates for the car and Leclerc once again showhed his class.
AMG44 (@amg44)
21st September 2019, 19:04
“There were quite a bit of mistakes I lost the car quite a few times and I’ve seen myself in the wall at least twice or three times in the lap”
Dont worry too much, with that Monster engine at your disposal you can make more mistakes in the corners and still will be enough for pole position. Ferrari gain too much ‘free laptime’ on the straights. The power unit is miles ahead of the competition right now.
Now I wont be surprised if Ferrari gets pole positions at all the remaining tracks.
Slavisa (@sylversurferr)
21st September 2019, 19:52
Well after 5 seasons having “Monster engine” and “free laptime” I guess it’s ok if someone else took it from you for a few races? Or maybe Merc fans are to much biased by Ferrari engine, and wouldnt agree on that?
Mr G
22nd September 2019, 0:28
No complaints for 2014 2015 2016 2017 then with Merc doing same?
Tango (@tango)
22nd September 2019, 0:05
To be honest I saw his car in the wall too. Good job keeping it on track
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
22nd September 2019, 2:45
Yeah I agree – I’d actually tipped one of the “new kids” would end up in the wall during Qualy by overdoing it. Well done and great job for not proving me right.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
22nd September 2019, 0:07
This was like watching Senna. Car moving around all over the track and still won pole.
Mayrton
22nd September 2019, 8:49
This suddenly found form & pace of Ferrari! Amazing! or Amazing?