Charles Leclerc admitted he was “surprised” by Ferrari’s pace in qualifying after taking pole position for the Australian Grand Prix by almost three tenths over Max Verstappen.
Leclerc claimed the top spot in qualifying on his final lap, becoming the only driver to break the 1’18 barrier in the process.
Despite running in the top three in every session, Leclerc said he was pleased to have taken pole after a “messy” weekend.
“It felt good,” said Leclerc. “Even more because it’s a track where I’ve always struggled in the past as a driver. I don’t know, it probably doesn’t fit me as well. And this weekend we really worked hard.
“It was a bit messy for the free practice sessions for me. I managed to do some good laps but not everything together. In Q3 I managed to put everything together so it feels great and I’m very happy to be starting on pole tomorrow.”
Before leaving the pits for his final run, Leclerc told race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros he wanted to…