The Ferrari driver claimed his ninth pole of the season, beating Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by 0.022 seconds, while Max Verstappen was forced to abandon his final effort as he was close to running out of fuel on a lap that seemed fast enough for first place.
Leclerc was in the pits for the last minute of qualifying after making a mistake on his last lap, but that was not enough to jeopardize his second career pole position in Singapore.
“I think the penultimate lap was good, especially for the track conditions at that time, it was about getting ready for that last lap,” said Leclerc.
“But unfortunately on that last lap I blocked, made a mistake in turn 13 which cost me quite a bit of time and at turn 16 I went straight and that was it.
“Other than that, I think we were very competitive throughout the qualifying session, which is great to see, especially in conditions like these. And, again, the car feels good, so the qualifying session was positive, too bad I couldn’t put it all together on the last lap.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
With Leclerc on pole and title rival Verstappen starting the race in eighth place, it offers a glimmer of hope to extend the title fight as the Monegasques trail by 116 points in the F1 Drivers’ World Championship.
Despite the qualifying results, Leclerc says he is not thinking about the title image and wants to focus on his first victory since the Austrian GP in July.
“It’s important for me to win as many races as possible until the end of the season,” he added. “Really, it’s only a matter of time before Max gets his title.
“We’re just going to focus on ourselves, try to make the best use of these last races, maximize our package. It’s important to me, the rest I don’t care.
The Ferrari driver claimed his ninth pole of the season, beating Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by 0.022 seconds, while Max Verstappen was forced to abandon his final effort as he was close to running out of fuel on a lap that seemed fast enough for first place.
Leclerc was in the pits for the last minute of qualifying after making a mistake on his last lap, but that was not enough to jeopardize his second career pole position in Singapore.
“I think the penultimate lap was good, especially for the track conditions at that time, it was about getting ready for that last lap,” said Leclerc.
“But unfortunately on that last lap I blocked, made a mistake in turn 13 which cost me quite a bit of time and at turn 16 I went straight and that was it.
“Other than that, I think we were very competitive throughout the qualifying session, which is great to see, especially in conditions like these. And, again, the car feels good, so the qualifying session was positive, too bad I couldn’t put it all together on the last lap.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
With Leclerc on pole and title rival Verstappen starting the race in eighth place, it offers a glimmer of hope to extend the title fight as the Monegasques trail by 116 points in the F1 Drivers’ World Championship.
Despite the qualifying results, Leclerc says he is not thinking about the title image and wants to focus on his first victory since the Austrian GP in July.
“It’s important for me to win as many races as possible until the end of the season,” he added. “Really, it’s only a matter of time before Max gets his title.
“We’re just going to focus on ourselves, try to make the best use of these last races, maximize our package. It’s important to me, the rest I don’t care.
