Leclerc “surprised” to beat Verstappen in the Bahrain F1 qualifier

On the spot where he took his first F1 pole in 2019, Leclerc once again secured the top spot in Sakhir after a zero-sum qualifying shot that showed three drivers within 0.129s.

After the first set of Q3 runs, Leclerc had to settle for second behind Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, but in his second lap he went a tenth faster, for both the Spaniard and Red Bull Max Verstappen, who was only 0.006 seconds behind. 2. Bay.

While Ferrari looked strong throughout the pre-season, Leclerc said the Maranello team was convinced that Red Bull would be even faster over a lap, and he said his pole would be surprised for that.

“We were pretty sure Red Bull would be a little faster than us in qualifying, but a good surprise, that was not the case,” Leclerc said firmly at the park.

“So we have to do everything for tomorrow now, it will not be easy. Tire management will be important, especially with this increased weight this year, so we have to focus on it and hopefully have a good race tomorrow.”

The Monegasque driver, who shot his 10th pole in F1 and his first since Baku last year, said he was still not entirely happy with his driving because the pilots and teams were still with their brand new Machine for 2022 to get a handle on.

“It was a very complicated qualifying session, I was not very happy with my ride, and managed to make the round in Q3 and then start from pole, so very happy,” he added.

“From the ride it was completely different from last year. Testing was very useful for this. I have tried many different driving styles and still have to find the perfect one. There is definitely a lot more to come, hopefully from us.”

Leclerc said it would be extra rewarding for the team to reverse the 2022 rules to make a leap after a few low-key years for the Scuderia.

“The last two years have been incredibly difficult for the whole team and we were very hopeful that this year would be an opportunity to return,” he explained.

“I think we worked extremely well as a team to find ourselves in a position to fight for better places, so I’m very happy with that today.”