Charles Leclerc gave himself and us a beautiful pole ad for his twenty-sixth birthday Austin, Texas. A track on which he has always performed well but on paper hostile to the Monegasque's SF-23 which surprised everyone with the best lap in the last attempt of Q3. Charles unlike Max Verstappen, who ran wide in the penultimate corner, did not exceed the track limits, taking home the lap with a truly impressive performance. One of his magic tricks will allow him to start from the front row on Sunday to compete for the podium. An opportunity also born from the Sprint format which forces the teams to immediately find a compromise for the rest of the weekend. Over these weekends, Ferrari has repeatedly demonstrated, especially with Charles, that they can play their cards. Arriving in Austin with a special helmet, dedicated to American football but also to hope, Charles answered the post-qualifying questions.
Charles Leclerc surprised everyone by taking his SF-23 to pole position. Charles' moment of glory was preceded by a twist, with Max Verstappen's fastest lap being eliminated due to track limits. The Dutchman will therefore start sixth while he will be alongside Charles, creating an unprecedented front row Land Norris.
Leclerc dreams of the feat after qualifying in Austin?
For Leclerc, this pole position represents the third of the season and the twenty-first of his career. The Monegasque secured provisional pole with a time of one minute and 34.829 seconds, improving it further to 1:34.723. However, Verstappen crossed the finish line in a faster time of 1:34.718, but his lap was deleted. This allowed Leclerc to maintain his position at the top of the grid. So far, only one Grand Prix has Ferrari managed to snatch victory from Red Bull, that of Singapore. Reaffirming yourself here will be difficult considering also the fierce competitors - McLaren and Mercedes. The goal is therefore to defend as much as possible.
The words of the Monegasque
“It's nice, it's really nice, to be honest, because the ride was really good. There were a few mistakes here and there, but I really pushed like crazy, so I knew it wasn't going to be the perfect lap, but I also know I would have won by taking a little more risk elsewhere and it paid off. I'm really happy with the lap and really happy to start from pole position here. We didn't expect it. In the last sector we were very strong in this morning's FP1 and in qualifying but, all in all, we have a strong car and the feeling in the car is good."
The strength of Ferrari, says Charles Leclerc in interviews after qualifying in Austin it is precisely about immediately finding the right fit in a weekend that reserves less time for free practice. “Strong on Sprint weekends? We did a great job with the team. We know that these weekends it is more important than ever to have clean PL1s and we did it. We started with good foundations, thanks to the work of the guys in the factory, and the car immediately gave good sensations. I felt strong throughout the qualifying sessions. Only on the last lap I made a few mistakes here and there, but I think it wasn't easy for anyone. I'm very happy, we'll start on pole for Sunday. Turn 1? It's always complicated here, but starting in front is always better than being behind. I'm very happy. I'm very happy, this year I didn't feel so comfortable with the car but we worked a lot in this second part of the season and this helped me with the riding style. We have made some progress, we must not draw conclusions today for a pole, because in race will be difficult. But I will do everything to win on Sunday".
