Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc says he did not expect to be on pole for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City.
Leclerc led his teammate Carlos Sainz to a team 1-2, front row lockout the Prancing Horse’s 69th 1-2 front row. The pole position is Leclerc’s second in a row after claiming P1 in Austin last week.
The pole position couldn’t have come at a better time as Charles celebrates his 100th race start with Ferrari in Mexico later today. The pole position is Leclerc’s 22nd of his career leaving him just one behind former Ferrari driver Niki Lauda in the record books and speaking after setting a time of 01:17.166s he said:
I did not expect to take pole position today. After FP3, it seemed as though we were on the back foot but once we put it all together in Q3, it went well.
I’m already focusing on the race though, because we want to convert this pole into a win. Our pace has been good so far here this weekend, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz set a fastest time of 01:17.233s and speaking following the action the Spaniard said:
It was quite a strange qualifying session today, but a mega result for the team! It hasn’t been the cleanest of weekends for us but in Q3 we managed to put everything together and consolidate a front row lockout for the race. Traffic nearly put me out in Q2, but the lap in Q3 felt good and this is a fantastic boost for everyone in the team, especially during this long triple-header.
We need to stay focused, as tomorrow won’t be an easy race. Temperatures and tyre management will be key for us. However, we are in the best possible position to try to keep everybody behind. Let’s race!