Following a strong showing on the opening day at the Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ended up in a disappointing P7 and P8 respectively, but the Scuderia pins hope on the potentially wet conditions on Sunday
Ferrari’s season will start from the fourth row of the Australian Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and eighth respectively in qualifying.
Despite the disappointing result, everything will still be possible in tomorrow’s 56 lap, 306 kilometre-long race, which should be more uncertain than ever, as it’s expected that heavy rain will hit Melbourne and the Albert Park circuit.
While Leclerc displayed impressive pace in Q1 and Q2, the Monegasque posted a 1’15”755 on his first run in the final qualifying segment, but he was unable to improve on his second run.
“The lap wasn’t great, all in all, we just didn’t have the pace today. We mainly struggled with the balance of the car and putting it all together, so we have some work to do.
“We lost the pace a little bit throughout qualifying,” Leclerc said after qualifying seventh, one spot ahead of new team-mate Hamilton. “As soon as we started to push the car more, we found more and more inconsistency, which was a bit of a shame.
“We had to push a lot to try and make a lap time, but we didn’t really follow the track for some reason, so we’ve got to look into it. In the last sector you also have the most overheating, and I was struggling with it today a lot more than I did yesterday. I think the gaps today are bigger than what they should be.”
“We expect rain and tricky conditions for the race, so we will give it everything and see what’s possible,” concluded the Monegasque.
His team-mate Lewis Hamilton started the weekend off the pace, but he was constantly improving the balance of his new car. However, it was only enough for him to take O8 on the grid.
The Briton had to use two sets of Soft tyres in the middle part of qualifying, which meant he only had one set of these when he got to Q3.
“It isn’t quite where we wanted to be but overall I’m satisfied with the progress we have made over the past two days. We didn’t expect to be eight or nine tenths behind pole but given this is a weekend of firsts for me, I didn’t underestimate how steep the learning curve would be.
“Charles has more experience of course, but I’m building confidence with the car and learning how to unlock its potential. Now we will get our heads down and try to find out how we can close the gap.
“Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, especially as I’ve not driven this car in the wet, but we will be giving it all we can to have a positive first race and be up there,” concluded the seven-time F1 champion.
