F1 News
Leclerc ecstatic with pole: "[It's] a really good surprise!"
Charles Leclerc found it hard to hide his happiness after qualifying today, as he claimed pole position ahead of Max Verstappen. The Monegasque explained how he was surprised to finish on top and ahead of both Red Bull drivers.
"For sure, I'm surprised," he explained to Mark Webber after the qualifying session, before adding: "We came into the weekend thinking it would be a great weekend if we were ahead of Mercedes and Aston Martin in qualifying. At the end of the day, we are on pole, a really good surprise."
Despite finishing ahead of both Red Bull drivers, Leclerc is still aware of where the team is, come to the race on Sunday, "we must not forget our race car is still behind the Red Bulls', so that will be difficult to keep the lead. That's the target."
Strong overall feeling following Friday in Baku
The Ferrari driver ended up posting the exact same lap as Verstappen before finding the pace on his final lap of qualifying, overall, Leclerc is pleased with the performance: "Really happy with the lap. The feeling was good from the start so really really happy. It's going to be challenging because we haven't run the medium yet, tomorrow in qualifying [shootout] it will be the first time and we need to be on it, because we only have one set."