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Charles Leclerc said that he was surprised by his Ferrari's pace during the qualifying session for the 2022 Monaco GP. He managed to bag pole position for the second year in a row at Monaco.
The Monegasque said that he struggled with the car’s balance throughout qualifying and described the session as “tricky”. Speaking after qualifying, he said:
“I was surprised by how much pace there was, because the balance was really, really tricky on that lap.”
He continued:
“The car was a bit everywhere. The first corner was quite a bit better. I got a snap; basically, I got snaps everywhere but the lap time was really coming together. And yeah, it felt really good.”
Charles Leclerc had tough competition from his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz as well as from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez throughout the weekend, with each taking the top spot on various occasions.
However, on their first runs in Q3, neither Perez nor Sainz could put together a decent lap to challenge Leclerc, while he went on to further improve his time on the final run, further cementing his position.
Ferrari’s race pace looking promising, says Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc said that the F1-75’s pace on long runs was decent and expressed confidence in being able to control the race from the front, even under mixed conditions. Speaking after qualifying, he said:
“[Long run pace] was good. I mean, we only did like three or four laps, but it looks good. So hopefully it will be the case tomorrow.”
Given the short run to the first corner, the 24-year-old will have an easier time defending his lead from the others behind him, paving the way for a straight-forward win.
But with rain predicted, Ferrari’s poor ability in preventing tires from graining could negatively impact Leclerc if the track temperatures drop too much.
Since Monaco is one of the slowest tracks on the calendar, maintaining tires temperatures will be a gargantuan task for the drivers.
