The qualifying session for the Formula 1 Belgian GP left Charles Leclerc with the feeling that he could have achieved a better result. The Ferrari driver attributed part of his frustration to a yellow flag displayed near the pit entry during his last attempt in Q3.
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Leclerc ended the session in fifth position, more than half a second behind pole position Kimi Antonelli. Despite this, he finished ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in a weekend where he had been Ferrari’s most competitive driver at Spa-Francorchamps.
According to the Monegasque, the team faced unexpected difficulties from the start of activities. The problem was related to a loss of straight-line performance, something that initially had no clear explanation but was eventually identified before the qualifying session.
“It was a very difficult weekend for reasons different from the usual. We were losing half a second, four tenths on the straights all the time, and it was complicated to understand why, but before the qualifying session we found something, made a change, and got much closer than we expected,” he said.
The Monegasque driver highlighted that he was satisfied with the car’s behavior since TL1 but regretted the episode on the decisive lap of Q3. For him, the marshals’ signaling caused a misunderstanding at one point on the track.
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“That last lap and the misunderstanding with the yellow flag at the last corner was a shame, but that’s how it goes,” he said. In an interview with Sky F1, Leclerc detailed that the flag was intended for the pit entry but was positioned very visibly for those on the track.
“In my opinion, it was very much in the middle. That probably cost me a position. I wouldn’t have done a half-second better lap, but I believe I could have gained a place,” added the Ferrari driver.
When analyzing the difference to Mercedes, Leclerc pointed to power as one of the decisive factors: “It’s pure power. They are in a better situation in this aspect. We are strong on grip-limited tracks, but we suffer on power-limited ones. Today, however, they were also very fast in the corners. At the moment, we need to focus on maximizing what we have,” he concluded.
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