Leclerc says qualifying approach change was key to Austrian GP pole

Charles Leclerc believes changing hꦉis approach to qualifying paid off as he claim💜ed pole position for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver converted his promising pace throughout the weekend into qual⭕ifying as he stormed to the fastest time by 0.259s ove🌸r Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to seal his second career pole.

Leclerc admitte꧟d at last weekend’s French Grand Prix that he had altered his approach to qualifying following notable errors in Azerbaijan and Monaco, and he reckons the work he has done was reflected in Spielberg.

Leclerc says change of approach was key to Austrian GP pole

Charles Leclercꦬ believes changing his approach to qualifying paid🐭 off as he claimed pole position for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver converted his promising pace throughout the weekend into qualifying as he stormed to the fastest time by 0.🦩259s over Mercedes’ Lewis🅠 Hamilton to seal his second career pole.

Leclerc admitted at last weekend’s French Grand Prix that he had altered his approach to qualifying following notable errors in Azerbaijan and Monaco, and he reckons the work he has done was reflected in𒁃 Spielberg.

“I changed a little bit the aജpproach from Paul Ricard, and I really felt I did a step forward,” Leclerc explained.

“Then Austria is also my favour🌌ite track, so it might fi🦋t a little bit better my driving style. Overall since Paul Ricard, I did a step forward, and I could feel it in the car, so I’m happy with this. That’s it.

“It’s just to be a little bit more step-by-step during the qualify♊ing sessions. I probably over-pushed [before].

“And then on the setup side, I anticipated the track evolution whic✱h is quite a big factor now in Formula 1. So just these two 🐻[factors], and I certainly found quite a bit of time.”

“Obviously I’m extremely happy,” he added. "We have been competitive since FP2, but it’s always difficult to do the lap when you need toꦏ in Q3, and we did, so I’m very♎ happy.

“We changed a bit the car to the first run in Q3. I knew it would be a compromise maybe for the first sector, but actually, it wasn’t that bad, an🧜d I made up time in the third sectಌor which was nice to see.

“I’m very happy for the team for the pole position. It’s just a shame for Seb, as I think probably the two ca🅷rs should be closer to first and second. It’s a bit of a shame for the team, but very happy anyway of my own performance.”

And Leclerc insisted he has no conꦿcerns about Ferrari’s decision to run the Soft tyre during Q2, meaning both drivers will start the race on Pirelli’s softest compound, while rivals Mercedes and Red Bull opted for Mediums.

“We did some analysis after FP2, likꦿe every team does, after the race simulation, and the Soft looked pr💟etty good so we are pretty happy with our strategy,” Leclerc said.

“It’s 💃definitely different than Red Bull and Mercedes, but only tomorrow will tell who was right in that choice. But I’m happy with it.”

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