Despite grabbing the first pole position of the 2022 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claims that he was not entirely satisfied with his drive in Saturday's qualifying session.
In a post-qualifying interview, the Monegasque said:
“The last two years have been incredibly difficult for the team and we were quite hopeful that this new opportunity for us was an opportunity to be back in the front. And I think we have worked extremely well as a team to find ourselves again in the position to fight for better places. So, very happy with today. It has been a very tricky qualifying session. I wasn’t completely happy with my driving but managed to do that lap in Q3 and we’re starting from pole! So, very happy.”
Meanwhile, his teammate Carlos Sainz will start the main race behind Max Verstappen from third on Sunday. This sets up the Prancing Horse for a good set of points at the Bahrain Grand Prix to kick off the season
"Much more to come" – Ferrari's Charles Leclerc hoping for a strong 2022 season
After two difficult seasons for Ferrari, the team finally got off to a great start to the 2022 season with both cars making it to the top three of the qualifying session. Pole sitter Charles Leclerc revealed that while there is room for improvement, given how early into the season we are, he is hopeful that there is yet more to come from the Italian team.
Leclerc said:
“Of course there is [room to improve]. Also from the driving point, it’s completely different from last year. Testing was very useful for this, I’ve tried many different driving styles and still need to find the perfect one. So yeah, there’s definitely much more to come, hopefully from us.”
Ferrari finished last season in third ahead of McLaren, who were their main rivals in 2022. This year, however, the team seems to be well-positioned to be fighting for the world championship title with Red Bull as their top rivals. Meanwhile, reigning champions Mercedes seem to be struggling to deliver at their usual level this year.