LECLERC FRUSTRATED AFTER QUALIFYING AND VETTEL CRASH

Q2 was red-flagged with 2m15s to go due to Sebastian Vettel losing his Ferrari on acceleration through the Turn 4 right-hander and having a heavy impact with the barrier.

Ferrari’s troubled season continues. In Q2, Sebastian Vettel crashed his SF1000 after getting into a spin. Charles Leclerc narrowly avoided his teammate but missed out on Q3.

While Vettel rolled back onto the track with debris after hitting the wall, Charles Leclerc just turned the corner. The Monegasque just avoided his teammate but does hit part of Vettel’s loose front wing. “Yes, it was really close, but luckily I managed to avoid Sebastian. That was good, but missing Q3 was frustrating,” says Leclerc in front of the Ziggo Sport camera.

“I really thought we had the potential to make it to Q3 today, but we couldn’t show that. I got a message that I had no margin left with time, so I had to push in the outlap and started my fast lap right behind Daniil Kvyat. Unfortunately, we had a little more margin and we did not choose that. So we definitely have to improve something there ”, says the frustrated driver.

“The speed was there to make it to Q3, but I’ve been struggling all weekend. I haven’t been driving very well yet, to be honest. In qualifying, I finally got into the rhythm a bit and I was also quite competitive. That also makes it a bit more frustrating, but the race is tomorrow and then the points will be divided, so I will give everything ”, concludes the man from Monaco.

FERRARI DISAPPOINTED AS PRACTICE PROMISE FADES AFTER VETTEL CRASH IN QUALIFYING

Ferrari saw the promise of better than expected pace in practice fade away in a few minutes of Russian Grand Prix qualifying.

The Scuderia has appeared back in the midfield fight with McLaren, Renault, Racing Point and AlphaTauri in Sochi, but failed to get either car into the top 10 after a disastrous Q2.

First, Sebastian Vettel would put his car into the barrier causing a red flag, a crash he put down to pushing a little too hard.

“Well I lost the car,” he said bluntly. “Already in Turn 2 I lost the car and then in Turn 4, I lost it again and I couldn’t catch it anyway.”

Asked if the wind, which did a full 180 in terms of direction compared to practice, played a role, Vettel added: “It was, it was but in qualifying, I was struggling especially in the first sector.

“I tried to take a little bit more risk, as I said I lost it in [Turn] 2 and then in [Turn] 4. Not happy obviously but compared to the morning session I struggled quite a bit in the afternoon.”

LECLERC FRUSTRATED AFTER QUALIFYING AND VETTEL CRASH LECLERC FRUSTRATED AFTER QUALIFYING AND VETTEL CRASH

BOTTAS WAS UNABLE TO KEEP PACE WITH HAMILTON

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