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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the tenth pole of his F1 career earlier today at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying session. The Monegasque driver revealed that he expected Red Bull to be much quicker, given their pace during testing as well as the free practice sessions.
Leclerc said:
“It feels quite good. We were pretty sure Red Bull was going to be a bit quicker than us also in qualifying but yeah. Good surprise it was so now we need to finish the weekend on a high tomorrow, it’s not going to be easy. Tire degradation, and especially with the increase in weight this year. So we need to focus on that and hopefully have a good race tomorrow.”
Emphasizing that the team cannot afford to get ahead of themselves, Leclerc added, saying:
“I will still stay cautious. I mean the pace is there but the race is long and anything can happen so we need to stay on it.”
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen of Red Bull qualified in second, while Sergio Perez will be starting the main race from fourth behind Carlos Sainz on Sunday.
Christian Horner believes Ferrari will be the team to beat at Bahrain GP
Red Bull were expecting to start from pole position in the 2022 season opener in Bahrain, however, Charles Leclerc beat them to it in a brilliant qualifying session. The Red Bull team boss claimed before the session that he expects Ferrari to be their main rivals at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and it is safe to say that he was absolutely on point.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, said:
“I think Ferrari are very, very quick. You can see that Leclerc today was quick, that Sainz was quick. Whenever they’ve been on track during pre-season, they’ve looked very impressive. I think they could well be the cars to beat tomorrow.”
Commenting on the return of the Prancing Horse, Horner added:
“It’s great to see Ferrari back being competitive. They’ve been a giant that’s been quiet the last couple of years, and they were always going to get it together.”
Meanwhile, reigning world champion Mercedes seemed to be severely lacking pace throughout the weekend in Bahrain. Lewis Hamilton will be starting the race behind both Ferraris and Red Bulls from fifth place tomorrow while George Russell will be starting his first official race as a Mercedes driver from a disappointing ninth.
