Faced with Bottas and Verstappen, Leclerc will take “no risks”

behind the Mercedes et Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc appeared to be the best “of the others”. In qualifying this Saturday, the Monegasque confirmed the trend with a nice 4th time, synonymous with 3rd place on the grid due to the 10 penalty places data to Lewis Hamilton ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.

« I am very happy with the end result, savored the pilot of the Team. My last lap allows us to start 3rd tomorrow (Sunday) thanks to Lewis' penalty. I knew the session was going to be tricky since we had chosen to use a setting with lower aerodynamic downforce for the race. I think it's the right choice even if we knew it was going to be complicated in qualifying ».

Satisfied with his Turkish stay so far, Charles Leclerc is now turning to the Grand Prix where he hopes to be able to put all the chances on his side to achieve a second podium this season. “ So far, it’s a good weekend for us. Now we need to put it all together for tomorrow, the day that matters most, he admits. Everything is still possible. I hope we will have good conditions like today (SATURDAY), and hopefully even better. If it's wet I think I'll suffer with my settings but normally it should be dry. (As for departure) I won't take any risks against the first two (Bottas and Verstappen). We are not fighting against them in the championship. The start is always tricky but I wouldn't take any risks. »

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Happy 3rd on the grid, the Monegasque did not forget to salute the work and especially the help of his teammate Carlos Sainz. The latter positioned himself perfectly in front of him in Q2 to allow him to validate his ticket for Q3 even though he was not necessarily in the best conditions. “ Thanks to Carlos for the aspiration in Q2. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to get into Q3 with the traffic in the final corners. It was planned in advance as for the last race even we were not able to do it since it rained in qualifying (in Russia. Editor’s note). We saw the right window and knew when and how to do it. It was great and it shows that we also know how to work as a team. » A situation which unfortunately should not recur in the race since the Iberian will start from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.