Charles Leclerc: Why qualifying was still useful despite the engine penalty

Qualifying at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo was a test of patience for everyone involved. The rain forced the World Championship contenders to take a break lasting almost an hour and a half. Following the heavy downpour, the Formula 1 field had to wait for track conditions to improve. Eventually, the GP stars were allowed to begin their quest for the fastest lap times on wet tyres.

Towards the end of Q2, track conditions had changed enough to allow a switch to intermediate tyres for mixed conditions. The timing of this change proved crucial for qualifying for Q3, as weather conditions deteriorated noticeably during the final practice session.

Charles Leclerc was among the ten drivers to qualify for Q3, ultimately setting the fourth-fastest lap time. However, the Monegasque driver will have to start the 20th race of the season from 14th on the grid because he is competing with a new engine that exceeds the permitted quota. Nevertheless, he insisted afterwards that the qualifying session had been very useful.

Charles Leclerc: An instructive final practice session on a wet track

“It was very, very tricky, but at the same time I also feel that we’ve learnt an incredible amount. That might sound strange, because you can’t change too many things on the car in qualifying. But there are still a few things you can tweak. And I was able to try out a bit more than usual, because we knew I’d have to drop ten places on the grid,” explained the 29-year-old.

“It was very, very useful, because I learnt quite a lot, and I’m pretty sure that’s true for the team as well. That was one of the most useful weekends in recent years, because we were racing on a wet track. And I felt that the pace was good. Unfortunately, we then made a few changes in Q3 that didn’t go in the right direction, but that’s how we learnt from it,” Leclerc continued.

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Looking ahead to the race, the nine-time Grand Prix winner added: “I feel good and am looking forward to the Grand Prix. We knew from the start that we’d have to take an engine penalty. But we also know that anything is still possible, because the weather here is always unpredictable. And the forecast for the race suggests we’re in for difficult conditions again. I hope this will give us the opportunity to secure a podium finish.”