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Charles Leclerc explained the reason why he couldn’t set a time in the final part of Sprint Qualifying.
Leclerc and Ferrari expected to be in the mix with rivals Red Bull and McLaren around the Red Bull Ring (Image Credit: @ScuderiaFerrari on X)Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claimed his eighth Sprint pole position of his career with a 1:04.686 lap time around the Red Bull Ring.
He will start the Sprint race on the front row with McLaren’s Lando Norris alongside him. That pair have been a cut above the rest in recent weeks, while Scuderia Ferrari have fallen slightly behind in the last few Grands Prix.
However, few would have expected Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to end the session down in tenth place. Having set the third fastest time in free practice with teammate Carlos Sainz in P4, hopes were relatively high for the driver from Monaco.
Unfortunately, an issue when exiting the pitlane with just a couple of minutes left on the clock in the final part of Sprint Qualifying meant Leclerc ran out of time to set a flying lap and ultimately ended up bottom of the pile in SQ3.
The 26-year-old vented his frustrations to his team on the radio and will have to start the Saturday race out of position.
A bit disappointing
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 immediately after Sprint Qualifying, Leclerc admitted that the issue in the pitlane came as an unfortunate surprise. He said: “I don’t know what happened. I was in the pit lane and I got the anti-stall then everything switched off.
“The team told me we will speak later, so I don’t know,” added the Monegasque driver.
While Leclerc wasn’t expecting to challenge for pole position in Austria, he believes he would have managed better than P10 if he had managed to start his final flying lap on time. He continued: “We were not super strong but we would have been better than P10.
“A bit disappointing but we will try to have a good Sprint to come back.”
Leclerc will be hoping to move up the order in the Sprint race, commencing 11:00 BST (12:00 local time) on Saturday 29 June. The Ferrari driver will have a second crack at qualifying in a better position for the main race; Saturday Qualifying will take place at 15:00 BST (16:00 local time).
Feature Image Credit: @F1 on X