Charles Leclerc expressed he was "disappointed" with his result in the qualifying session ahead of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished second during the Friday qualification at Bahrain International Circuit. While some other drivers (for example, from Mercedes) would be delighted with the result, the 26-year-old wasn't.
The Ferrari driver's Q3 time was about 0,228 seconds short of the pole position time set by Max Verstappen. He told the media after the race:
"I'm a bit disappointed. We did a good qualifying. It's been a tricky weekend until now. We were trying quite a few things in FP1, FP2, FP3, and then I found a sweet spot in qualifying."
The reason for Leclerc's disappointment might be that he managed to set a faster lap than Verstappen's pole time in Q2. Leclerc's Q2 time was 1:29.165, and the Dutchman's Q3 time was 1:29.179.
"In Q2, I think I did a lap which was more or less the lap time Max did in Q3, so it was there in the car."
For some reason, the Monegsque driver couldn't improve further on his time when it mattered, and in Q3, he managed to do only 1:29.407.
"I think we lost a little bit the rhythm [with] the used set of C3 in Q3, then you have to readapt to the new tyres and I lost a little bit there, but all in all it’s been a positive quali."
Nevertheless, it is positive for Leclerc to see that Ferrari can compete with Red Bull in terms of qualifying pace in 2024. It is a positive start and something his team can build on moving forward. He added:
"I'm confident we did a step forward but we have to wait and see tomorrow how much of a step forward we did. We really think that Red Bull is still ahead by quite a bit in the race. We'll see, but if there is an opportunity as always I'll go for it and we see what happens tomorrow."
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