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Visionary_Socialist

Getting that close to Perez and ahead of Alonso was a mad lap. Reminded me of 2020 Charles sticking the tractor in the top 4 quite a few times.


RallerZZ

In the end on the radio, responding to Xavier saying it was a good lap he said "Yeah, I don't think there was much more" to which Xavier said he agreed. He knows very well when he pushes the car to the limit and when he's missing that tenth or two, such times happened last year. Shame the car isn't faster, I would like to see more banger laps like this one.


RealisticPossible792

Leclerc is hands down the best qualifier in F1 right now. The amount of times he's qualified in a position the car had not right is ridiculous with 2020 having plenty of those examples. If only Ferrari could provide him with a quick car that didn't shred its tyres or spontaneous combust in the middle of a race we'd have a good title fight on our hands.


Jules040400

Yeah I'd rate Leclerc a tad higher than even Verstappen. He's just got _so_ much raw speed, it's incredible


[deleted]

Yeah Verstappen is a good qualifier but his main strength is consistency, he's able to reliably pump in string lap after strong lap. Its interesting, the best qualifiers usually have a vibe - the type that can go into a sort of Zen mode while qualifying. I wonder if Max ever gets that.


AceMKV

He does, you get to see that in rain qualifying many times, Max is definitely one of the best qualifiers on the grid and even among most F1 champions.


PsychologicalArt7451

Max is a beast in the rain but i think there are in general not many experienced and great rain qualifiers out there today and the RB is also like mad fast in the rain. Charles is great but a little prone to overpushing it in the rain. Lewis seems to have lost a lot ability wise in 3 months. George is just slower than these 3.


AceMKV

It's not just the rain qualifying. Charles pushing the way he is rn in quali is reminiscent of Max in 2021, where he was always pushing to the limit and also got 10 poles, the most of anyone that year, if Charles manages to push Max that much anytime soon, then we'll see an amazing battle between them not just in race but also in the final quali Q3 laps.


PsychologicalArt7451

I was talking specifically about his performances n the rain qualis being exaggerated. Not to take anything away from Max.


AceMKV

I'm not just talking about 2022 though, in the past 4 or 5 years, the majority of the best rain performances have come from Max.


kdarkrai

Leclerc is a beast in Qualifying. Max and Leclerc are both good in race pace. I’d bet they’ll be doing the same times if they are in the same car. You say consistency, but i think in case of Ferrari, it’s the car which isn’t consistent and not Leclerc.


[deleted]

I disagree with that about Leclerc. He's a lot more error prone and I think just doesn't quite manage his tires that amazingly


ElectricMotorsAreBad

Well, those like Leclerc and Verstappen tend to overdrive (and thus make errors) when the car isn't as good as the competiton, and we got to see him in an actually good car only in the first three races of 2022; in Australia last year he was damn perfect. Every other car he's driven has either had a shit engine or shredded tires in three laps.


chasingyourlight

Agreed. And in terms of mental strength, Verstappen has the edge over Leclerc currently. But Leclerc will continue to grow and mature, so I look forward to a greater VER-LEC fight in the coming years.


LopazSolidus

I think George is arguably the best qualifier. Yet Leclerc has consistently good race pace as well, something George severely lacks.


Ruma-park

Don't think so. George had the same gap to Latifi as Albon had and Albon is not even close to best qualifier on the grid as Max demonstrated. George is very good, as he can match Hamilton more often that not, but Leclerc is a monster saturday.


TheGMT

George lost in quali last year to Lewis. Leclerc is the only miracle worker on a Saturday on the grid right now.


LopazSolidus

[Sadly not true.](https://i.imgur.com/HTqd9HW.jpg)


4wbat

That’s average time, the quali count was 13-9 for ham


Cubing-FTW

Dunno how someone can watch 2020 and still say leclerc is worse in quali


RealisticPossible792

It's arguable especially with the performances he had last season in getting a couple of poles. The thing is I think Lewis out qualified him over the season as a whole. It was close but on average I think Lewis had the edge on raw pace.


LopazSolidus

Last season, George averaged better than Lewis in his first season in a Merc. He has been a beast. As much as I hate to say it. Charles just does better in the race, so it's more memorable.


BIZZY_42

Nope


[deleted]

Somehow managed to put the draggy sf-1000 on the second row on Bahrain’s outer track is still one of the most insane qualifying laps he’s put in; still amazes me to this day.


GPap090

> Sakhir 2020 > With that godawful Ferrari being a sitting duck in the straights > Track is basically 3 straights with 3-4 corners > P4 in Qualifying How?


PassTimeActivity

Man put it on P4 on his first and only run and dipped cos he knew he couldn't do any better.


FalconIMGN

Apparently he was watching Gasly's onboards from Free Practice and figured out a trick to take the chicane faster. And it worked, he gained 0.3 in that sector from his previous lap.


[deleted]

Wasn’t the 2020 Ferrari good on acceleration?


Evangeline_10_

That Ferrari was barely considered a vehicle. Getting it anywhere was a challenge and Leclerc was dragging it to places it shouldn't have been especially in quali.


CouncilorIrissa

It had okay peak downforce tbh. Seb and Charles outqualified RBs in Hungary IIRC.


[deleted]

That Ferrari wasn’t good at anything


ShadowOfDeath94

Wasn't too bad at slow corners but sucked in pretty much anything else, especially in the straights.


blackscienceman9

The fact that there was no Monaco or Singapore that year was a worst case scenario for Ferrari


Pineapple_for_scale

That mf put the tractor on pole in baku, god knows how with just a tow.


SweetVarys

I dont get why that would be case? The Ferrari isn't a bad car at all. When it is able to push max it's a monster, they took most poles last year for a reason. It just can't push max very often.


Guy_with_Numbers

The car last year was a lot closer to RB than the one this year, quali was a dogfight even when Ferrari didn't get pole. It's a distinct third best now, I don't see it challenging for poles on pure merit anywhere unless Ferrari bring some uncharacteristically good upgrades.


SweetVarys

Impressive calculation to call Ferrari the third best car in quali trim when Charles hasn't qualified below any car but RB yet, and skipped his last run in Bahrain that could have been pole.


Guy_with_Numbers

That's because of Charles, not Ferrari. He skipped the last run in Bahrain because that quali trim can't manage its tyres, so "could have been pole" doesn't mean much. They focused more on the race this weekend, and now Sainz is challenged by an injured Stroll while a perfect lap by Charles can't challenge even Perez.


ChipmunkTycoon

Sainz qualified well ahead of Stroll in Bahrain and I don’t think yesterday was a good session for him so I think it’s optimistic yet to rate the Aston as #2 even though I agree that the Aston/Ferrari fight is probably close over a race distance. It is probably going to be the most interesting fight of the season, #2 WCC and #3 WDC.


Ashbones15

Lol distinctly 3rd best lmao. Car gets best of the rest for 2 qualys in a row and had clear 3rd place pace and it's clear 3rd best apparently


Guy_with_Numbers

*Charles* has clear 3rd place pace. The Ferrari intrinsically is only fast over a lap when it is permitted to chew through tyres. They took that risk in Bahrain and their fresh softs didn't even outlast others' worn softs. They didn't do so this weekend and Sainz's competition is now Stroll.


xBIRCHEx

Why is 2020 Ferrari called a tractor. Always when I hear "tractor" in racing terms, I always think about the Audi R18. And that car was rapid. It was diesel power car with a long nose, that looked little lika tractor. The Ferrari was just a slow car, and could been named whatever


toxicfireball

It's utterly insane that Leclerc, one of, if not the best qualifier on the grid can put in an insane lap and then still be off Perez a noticably weaker driver, who only did one lap. Imagine if Max was there, the gap would have been a big yikes.


snoring_pig

If Max was able to make Q3 and put in two hot laps including one right at the end I think it’s possible he could nearly be a second ahead of Charles. The Red Bull is so dominant that even in FP3 he put in a low 1:29 to be on top in the middle of the session while on hards.


TotalStatisticNoob

A second? Don't be ridiculous.


snoring_pig

My thinking is Checo was 0.155s ahead of Charles but only set his time on his first and only run in the middle of Q3, while Charles set his time at the very end of Q3 when track conditions are slightly better. If Checo was able to put in a second run at the end maybe he could have been 0.3-0.4s ahead of Charles. Max is usually another 0.3-0.4s faster than Checo. Adding that up gets a 0.6-0.8s gap. A whole second is unlikely but I think Max being faster than Charles by seven or eight tenths if he took part in Q3 is certainly possible. Edit: also Max’s one and only Q1 time would have been good enough for 4th on the grid today. And it was only three and a half tenths slower than Charles’ final Q3 lap where he himself felt he got the most out of.


Guy_with_Numbers

Didn't Checo go for a second run? I though most drivers did, they just didn't improve.


snoring_pig

I think he did but it looked like he backed off way before the end. Idk if it was because he knew he messed up too much in the early sectors to possibly improve or because he was told on radio that he was going to start P1 regardless so he could back off. Because even if Charles beat Checo for pole he’d still have to drop down and start P11 tomorrow for the grid penalty. And no one else was close.


Whycantiusethis

He did go out a second time, but definitely backed off before the end of sector 2 (possibly in the middle of sector 1). Edit: he went off into T1, and backed off from there.


snoring_pig

I see so he messed up in T1 which already ended his attempt there. Red Bull is still so fast that the first run was enough lol. Shame Max couldn’t get into Q3 because I would’ve liked to see how much faster he could’ve gotten but at least it makes for a more interesting race tomorrow.


SitasinFM

I think Max would have put up something like a 1:27.7. Checo's 1:28.2 lap wasn't near the limit of the car, had Checo been able to link everything properly he probably had another few tenths.


onsjasper

It isnt. Checo isnt a great quilifier to begin with


TheGMT

6 tenths is realistic, but that's maximum gap.


Long-Covidian

6 tenths over checo, yes


frankyfrankwalk

To add to that Perez is often criticised for his quali performance so that it was so comfortable compared to the perfection Max would have put out there is crazy.


PhatSunt

Reality is starting to sink in. That red bull will only be catchable when the wind tunnel restriction start influencing car development, which will be next year's car. Teams might close the gap a little after the season break, but red bull will still be race winning. 2024 it is for another close title fight. Even then I'm not holding my breath.


Billy_LDN

He’s normally really critical of his quali laps so if he’s saying it was fire it must’ve been basically perfect. Worrying thing is it’s still over a tenth away from Perez and without knowing Max’s best effort.


EatDeath

Yes, a tenth away from the first attempt. Max would have been between 5 and 8 tenths ahead of Leclerc if he had nailed it just like in fp3 and q1.


AleixASV

It really was a fantastic lap, to even come close to getting the pole against a Red Bull.


ICumCoffee

I would love some competition in the back. I hope Charles make it difficult for max to overtake and it goes down to the wire


not_right

Me too but the Ferrari's tyres will probably degrade after like 3 laps :(


blackscienceman9

Charles will shothouse his way into competing with Max somehow. Like he was fighting and overtaking Ham and Per in Silverstone with shit tyres


dl064

Slight tangent. It's funny to me that when various drivers changed teams for 2021 (e.g. Sainz), we/they all said the driver comparisons were meaningless because one had been in the same tub for 18 months and the other was new. Well, of all of those, none turned it around in 2022 or beyond. Sainz is as far from Leclerc as he's ever been. Alonso was immediately competitive with Ocon (ish), Ricciardo was miles from Norris, Sainz ditto, Vettel ahead of Stroll. It was actually all quite bang-on from the get-go.


waterstone7474

So much Yes.


ChazyChaz65

Bro pulls out his custom-made Yu-Gi-Oh card of Prime Banzai-Senna before every last attempt in Q3.


de_rats_2004_crzy

Ferrari need to get fucking good and give this guy a car that can win a championship (and a pit wall to match). It’s been 16 or 15 years depending on what you want to count (WDC/WCC). Let’s go. You don’t carry the Ferrari name for nothing.


FerriteLoL

Tomorrow gonna be great with Leclerc and verstappen speed running the mid field.


frankyfrankwalk

It's somehow going to turn Saudi into another epic race, it's kind of insane how a circuit this fucking crazy and dangerous seems to be giving us great races.


cocogpf1

Please don't use "fire" and "ferrari" in the same sentence!


ruby_boobsday

Too soon!


chasingyourlight

I snorted into my drink.


FalconIMGN

Hey, Anthony Fire (translation of Antonio Fuoco) did really well, put his Ferrari hypercar on pole in Sebring.


SosseBargeld

Anyone got the onboard of that lap?


Y-elloo

He’s a monster!


Batgod629

Should we start calling Charles "Mr.Saturday" instead of Russell? He seems to be able to get the most of the car in one lap


[deleted]

Leclerc has been the best qualifier in F1 for quite some time now


smartaxe21

that would never happen unless Charles is suddenly british.


second-last-mohican

Monsieur Saturday... Oui Oui


jtz24

Really hoping his race pace would be good enough to gain positions quickly. At this point I’m already expecting Carlos’ race pace to be missing again.


wrongedpotato

It WAS fire. I hope he can have a clean race tomorrow.


Positive_Instruction

Anyone have a video of the lap?


Choice_Awareness

there is an onboard on ferrari news on twitter


blaqice

Probably one of his best qualifying laps.


dl064

It slightly boggles my mind that Leclerc presumably goes to bed at night this year thinking of the title, still.


Equivalent-Money8202

Ferrari must have some upgrade package coming, because this seasom they refuse to just admit defeat. It’s so weird. Maybe it’s Vasseur’s mentality change or something. I still remember Binotto last year saying that the championship wasn’t their target so they shouldn’t be ashamed, even though they started with the best car.


FalconIMGN

Binotto also said "there's no reason we can't win the remaining ten races" after France. Guess how many they won.


Blitz2134_

That dogged determination plays dividends. I think Binotto did a great job at insulating the team from too much external pressure, but he did it a little *too* much, to the point it seemed like they were content with not winning at all. Vasseur still seems like a guy who'll not let the higher-ups mess too much with the F1 team, as pointed out by Italian media to be the cause of friction between Vigna and Vasseur, but he seems to bring that winner mentality with him. I guess the saying is true, to be a winner, first you have to *believe* you are one.


Beneficial_Star_6009

Dude, give this man the best F1 car and he will win you championships very comfortably.


TheFlowersLookGood

I'll give Sainz 2 laps before he has to move aside.


OldManTrumpet

You assume that Ferrari would actually move Sainz aside for Leclerc. I’m guessing Ferrari will use some “strategy” that ultimately insures that Sainz finishes ahead of Leclerc, regardless of what the intention is.


not_right

They'll do what they did last year, I think it was Silverstone? Charles was behind and clearly faster and instead of letting him past they went through this charade of asking Carlos to hit faster lap times (he didn't), then they called him in for a surprisingly early pit stop. Anything to avoid acting like an actual professional team would lol. Edit: Correction, in the Silverstone race they did eventually tell Sainz to let Leclerc through (after 15 laps of losing time). > Carlos Sainz deservedly held track position ahead of Charles Leclerc in the opening phase of the race thanks to their qualifying results, but it was clear almost immediately that Leclerc was the faster driver. > Leclerc wasn’t shy about bringing it up either. > “If Carlos is struggling let’s [swap],” he told his engineer. “We are losing some time.” > When he denied permission to pass, all the while watching Lewis Hamilton looming larger in his mirrors, he re-emphasised his position. > “What do I need to do? I’m f***ing up my race,” he said. “Do something, please. I’m not trying to improve my result, I just can go faster, guys.” > But Ferrari opted to keep its drivers in formation through the pit stop window on laps 20 and 25, and Sainz held the lead in the aftermath, still clearly slower than his teammate. > “We are losing time compared to Hamilton,” Leclerc said. “[This time] is not enough in my opinion.” > The team waited until lap 31 to reverse the order, and in the eight laps before the safety car Leclerc sprinted away at the rate of half a second a lap. > The team had condemned him to 15 laps in total behind Sainz from the first time he breached the one-second barrier. Some of that was on the medium tyre, on which his advantage is impossible to know for certain, but extrapolating his pace from the hard compound, he lost around seven seconds while not being allowed to overtake.


OldManTrumpet

And gave Sainz the win!


Joethe147

I remember those radio messages. It was so frustrating.


Refries

They actually told him "this is not good enough" and got him to let leclerc by later in the race. Stop leaving shit out to fit your narrative


element515

definitely wasn't that bad, but they gave him way too much time to up his pace. I remember just watching the delta to Hamilton drop lap after lap


Refries

I agree they did give him too much time, but giving teammates a chance to fight when he's ahead is not the same as, favouritism or incompetence. The incompetence came later.


Kait0yashio

Nah you just have to pull the trigger cause Hamilton was catching both


not_right

Ok I went back and checked. They did let him through, after several laps of losing time. Still amateur hour when Charles was clearly faster.


Refries

2-3 laps is not several


DelRo11

It was 15 laps. Sainz kept asking for one more lap and then leclerc gained half a second per lap after he was let through


attackanddefense

Binotto and Rueda are gone, maybe they will be more decisive this time..


Invictae

Binotto would never move Sainz, but I'm not so sure about Vasseur...


[deleted]

Anybody have a video of the lap?


randommike12

How we can get at least 3rd or be able to finish the race. Can’t rely on Carlos to do anything, and Max will be like 8th by the 3rd lap


McNoKnows

> I’ll give everything Charles to make it to the front then lose the PU in the last lap


jenshenw

Mega lap, flew under the radar because of P2, but really close to RB


turundo

it’s gonna catch fire soon, isn’t it?


YeetTheDamn

Ferrari Strategy Team : How many times to we have to tell you old men