Leclerc puts his rivals in a spin with pole in Barcelona
CHARLES Leclerc bounced back from a spin to put his Ferrari on pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Championship leader Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari through the chicane on his first attempt in Q3 at a sweltering Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona to leave him sweating.
But the Monegasque kept his cool with his last effort to deliver an impressive lap under pressure and beat rival Max Verstappen by three tenths.
Verstappen, who trails Leclerc by 19 points, complained he had no power on his last attempt.
Carlos Sainz finished third in the other Ferrari, with George Russell fourth for Mercedes - two places and just over a tenth ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
“I only had one lap after I made a mistake, but I delivered and it makes me very happy,” said Leclerc.
“I am in a strong position to start the race. If we don’t manage the tyres well tomorrow we will lose the win because Max is right behind.”
Verstappen added: “I couldn’t do my final run as I just lost power.
“It is a bit of a shame but to be on the front for us is a good achievement, but of course I would have liked to have had that final run.”
Mercedes have brought a number of upgrades to Spain - including a revised floor and new front wing - and Russell impressed en route to fourth.
Russell is 23 points ahead of Hamilton after beating his seventime world championship-winning team-mate at four of the five grands prix so far. And Russell left Hamilton trailing in qualifying, albeit six tenths back from Leclerc.
Hamilton so often reigns in Spain, with four of the last five Spanish GP poles and six wins - a record he shares with Michael Schumacher - but he has played second fiddle to team-mate Russell this weekend.
“This car just doesn’t talk to Lewis in the way that he likes a car to talk to him,” said respected pundit Martin Brundle in commentary for Sky Sports. “We have had years of Lewis being absolutely precise everywhere and he is fighting, he doesn’t know what the car is going to do next.
“Lewis is having to hustle, and that is not how we are used to him driving a Mercedes. George seems to be able to be more precise with the car.”
FINAL POSITIONS AFTER QUALIFYING: 1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 18.750secs, 2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:19.073, 3 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari. 1:19.166, 4 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:19.393, 5 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:19.420, 6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:19.512, 7 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:19.608, 8 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:19.682, 9 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren1:20.297, 10 Mick Schumacher (Ger) Haas F1 1:20.368, 11 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren1:20.471, 12 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:20.638, 13 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:20.639, 14 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:20.861, 15 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:21.094, 16 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin 1:20.954, 17 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Alpine 1:21.043, 18 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:21.418, 19 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:21.645, 20 Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:21.915