Charles Leclerc was left “very blissful” after claiming third place on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque hailing his effort as a “actually good lap”.
On a weekend by which Ferrari are working a revised rear suspension, Leclerc went one higher than his fourth place outcome earlier on in Saturday’s Sprint to be one of the best of the remainder behind the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Qualifying.
“I’m very blissful in the present day – it’s unusual to say that as a result of it’s nonetheless three-tenths [back] and it’s solely a 3rd place, however I didn’t anticipate it,” Leclerc mirrored after the session.
“We thought we had been fairly much more again. We knew that we had one thing extra within the automotive clearly with the improve this weekend, however we nonetheless struggled yesterday. However this was a very good lap.
“I’m very proud of the lap, very proud of how the automotive felt, so it’s good that we put every thing collectively for Quali.”
When quizzed on what he put it right down to, Leclerc responded: “It clearly takes a little bit of time to maximise these upgrades that we placed on the automotive, so there have been some little issues that we modified, however nothing main.
“It was all about placing every thing collectively. I’ve felt comfy with the automotive since FP1, so it’s good to have a Qualifying the place you look again and know you haven’t left something on the desk.”
Throughout Saturday’s Dash, Leclerc initially overtook Norris for third earlier than later shedding the place once more. With this in thoughts, the 25-year-old is uncertain whether or not a podium can be attainable in Sunday’s Grand Prix, by which he’ll line up one place forward of Max Verstappen.
“I don’t know but however, for positive, their race tempo this morning regarded very robust,” stated Leclerc. “I couldn’t sustain with them. However once more, with the small modifications that we’ve carried out, I hope that this offers us the higher hand in the primary race.”
