‘I did not expect it’ – Charles Leclerc ‘very happy’ after taking P3 in Spa Qualifying with ‘really good lap’

Charles Leclerc was left “very completely satisfied” after claiming third place on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque hailing his effort as a “actually good lap”.

On a weekend through which Ferrari are operating a revised rear suspension, Leclerc went one higher than his fourth place end result earlier on in Saturday’s Sprint to be the perfect of the remaining behind the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Qualifying.

“I’m very completely satisfied at the moment – it’s unusual to say that as a result of it’s nonetheless three-tenths [back] and it’s solely a 3rd place, however I didn’t anticipate it,” Leclerc mirrored after the session.

“We thought we have been fairly much more again. We knew that we had one thing extra within the automotive clearly with the improve this weekend, however we nonetheless struggled yesterday. However this was a extremely good lap.

“I’m very pleased with the lap, very pleased with how the automotive felt, so it’s good that we put all the things collectively for Quali.”

When quizzed on what he put it all the way down to, Leclerc responded: “It clearly takes a little bit of time to maximise these upgrades that we placed on the automotive, so there have been some little issues that we modified, however nothing main.

“It was all about placing all the things collectively. I’ve felt snug with the automotive since FP1, so it’s good to have a Qualifying the place you look again and know you haven’t left something on the desk.”

Throughout Saturday’s Dash, Leclerc initially overtook Norris for third earlier than later shedding the place once more. With this in thoughts, the 25-year-old is not sure whether or not a podium will probably be attainable in Sunday’s Grand Prix, through which he’ll line up one place forward of Max Verstappen.

“I don’t know but however, for positive, their race tempo this morning seemed very sturdy,” mentioned Leclerc. “I couldn’t sustain with them. However once more, with the small modifications that we’ve achieved, I hope that this provides us the higher hand in the principle race.”