Leclerc: No slipstream ‘cost at least one position’ in Monza qualifying

Charles Leclerc believes not having a slipstream on his final run in qualifying certainly “cost us one position at least” after he ended up third for the Italian Grand Prix.

Having initially clocked the second-best time, Leclerc was the first of the pole contenders to finish their last timed laps in Q3 and he moved to the top of the timesheets.

However, Max Verstappen swiftly beat his effort before Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz edged out the Red Bull man by only 0.013s to secure pole position at Monza.

While Leclerc was delighted that his team-mate was able to secure a home pole for Ferrari, the Monegasque driver believes not receiving the benefit of a tow at the end denied him from accompanying Sainz on the front row for tomorrow’s race.

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“My feeling can only be amazing with the Tifosi,” Leclerc said.

“Of course, on my side I’m a bit disappointed. I obviously wanted to be first but seeing that Carlos is P1 is great for Ferrari.

“He has done an incredible job all weekend. I’ve been struggling quite a bit more: FP1, FP2, FP3 and qualifying I managed to put everything together, so I was really happy.

“Unfortunately, in Q3 I didn’t have a slipstream. That probably cost us one position at least, but it’s life. We should be happy, especially on my side. I’ve been struggling a lot.”

However, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur staunchly disagreed with his driver’s viewpoint, stating he remains “convinced” that seeking a slipstream at Monza is more detrimental to overall lap time because of the dirty air effect through the corners.

Aside from feeling he lost out down the straights without a tow, Leclerc asserts that he began Saturday on the backfoot after heading down a misguided set-up direction.

The five-time Formula 1 race winner revealed that copying the set-up on Sainz’s car overnight was the key to rediscovering his confidence on the low fuel runs.

“On my side yesterday I went in a set-up direction that was really wrong and I lost a bit of confidence and them this morning from FP3 I basically copied the set-up of Carlos and I found the confidence again,” Leclerc explained.

“And in qualifying I was feeling really confident but again, Carlos has done a great job all qualifying and he deserves that pole.”

When asked if Ferrari can take the fight to Red Bull on race day, Leclerc said: “I think they are extremely strong, especially on high fuel they’ve been strong all season, so I do not expect anything different for tomorrow.

“But if we can overtake Max at the beginning then I can put myself behind Carlos, use the DRS every straight and leave Max behind,” he remarked. “That would be the ideal scenario, but let’s see what’s possible.