Leclerc says P2 is ‘bittersweat’ after missing out on pole

Charles Leclerc finished Friday’s qualifying session in second place, just 0.048s off pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

Ferrari fast forwarded their upgrades, which were initially intended for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and put them on in Austria and they seem to be working a treat. Not only was Leclerc 2nd, but Carlos Sainz rounded off the top 3, underlining the progress made at Maranello.

Despite that, Leclerc was left to rue his missed opportunity at 2nd pole position of the season as he felt that Verstappen’s place was up there for grabs.

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“I’m never happy when I’m second, I’m only happy when I’m first,” he said. “Today we missed pole position by very little, but to be honest, we also need to be realistic and looking at our season, this is probably the best quali we’ve had, apart from Baku of course where we were ahead of everyone.”

“The team has done an incredible job trying to bring these upgrades as early as possible into the season and I think this has helped us so far. Now we need to confirm that in the race. But it’s bittersweet: we’re very close to Max but just not enough, which is frustrating.”

Beating Verstappen and Red Bull in race trim will certainly be a tall order as the Milton Keynes cars traditionally opt for a more race-oriented setups, therefore are much more potent in the long run than on one-lap quali. But being in front of both Mercedes and Aston Martin is certainly a step in the right direction for Ferrari.