Charles Leclerc shows enough pace to win the front row in qualifying for the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, and it will be possible to catch up with the leading forces in the final starting from the 12th grid due to the PU exchange penalty, but Red Bull is “another dimension. ” he admits. Max Verstappen was dominant in all three practices, but a driveshaft problem in Q2 prematurely ended Saturday’s qualifying. The race in Jeddah will start from 15th on the grid.
Instead, Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez took pole position on Saturday. It’s the second time in his career, both in Saudi Arabia. Ferrari looked sluggish throughout the practice session, but Leclerc put in a great lap at the end of Q3, finishing 0.155s behind Perez and setting the second fastest time in qualifying. However, Leclerc has entered the weekend with a 10-grid penalty already confirmed, as he has put in a third control electronics, more than his share of the season, and he will start from 12th on the grid in the race. That leaves him with Verstappen in Jeddah to aim for the top spot, but Leclerc said he doubts Verstappen will be able to keep up with Red Bull in the race even if he starts behind him. “Happy? Yes and no,” Leclerc said after qualifying. “I think it’s been a very difficult weekend in terms of pace, but I’m very happy with my lap. I think I gave everything,” he said. “On the other hand, Red Bull are on another level and we’re struggling a bit. , we need to keep pushing, that’s what we’re doing as a team.” “It won’t be easy tomorrow. We have a 10 grid penalty, so we’ll start a bit further back. But we’re focused on the race. And hopefully we can get back to the front as soon as possible.” In terms of speed during the race, the chasing pack behind the Red Bull looked very evenly matched. In FP3 on Saturday, the drivers from 3rd to 17th were only six tenths of a second apart. Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz don’t know how far Ferrari are compared to their rivals, but expect a close race in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. “The race pace looked pretty good, but in FP2 everyone has a completely different program so it’s very difficult to compare.” But it won’t be easy as everyone feels very close on race pace.”
