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Charles Leclerc says that he never gave up hope of making it to Q3 after he looked to be all but eliminated during qualifying. The Sauber driver was outside the top ten towards the end of Q2, with his chances of advancing decreasing as the rain fell heavier.
His team told him to come into the pits, however the 21-year-old opted to stay out and set a time. Despite the track getting increasingly slower due to the slippery surface, Leclerc produced a lap time good enough to pull him up into the top ten and see him through.
“To be honest, I half believed in the fact that we couldn’t improve with this weather and obviously with flat-spotted tyres, because we stayed on the same tyres that we were on just before,” he said.
“Nobody really believed that we could improve, but I really wanted to go for it, I never really give up, so I just wanted to try. I saw that there was enough time to go out again and I just went for it.
“It was an extremely good lap. I was extremely happy, especially as it was quite a bit raining, with used tyres also so I never thought I would have improved. In the end it went a lot better than we thought.”
Leclerc ended up qualifying in eighth place, as he was pipped by teammate Marcus Ericsson who recorded his best ever qualifying finish. Leclerc will be hoping to end his rookie year on a high at the last two races of the season before he makes the switch to Ferrari next year.
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
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