LECLERC AFTER STRONG PERFORMANCE IN QUALIFYING

Charles Leclerc built on Ferrari’s practice promise to put himself fourth on the grid, although team-mate Sebastian Vettel failed to join him in the pole shootout.

Leclerc split the Red Bulls in Q3, with Alex Albon nearly half a second slower than Verstappen in fifth.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has expressed surprise over his pace during qualifying for Formula 1’s Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring after he ended the session in fourth place.

Ferrari has struggled at most events so far in 2020 and holds only sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Leclerc’s qualifying result on Saturday marked just the second time this year he has ended up on the second row, which he will share with Max Verstappen on this occasion.

“I’m quite surprised, especially with this weather, I expected to struggle in the cold weather,” he told media after the session.

“From the beginning of the season, we are struggling to make [the tyres] work any time it is cold.

“Today, it seems it has worked out for us. I’m very happy, very happy with my last lap. I put everything together and P4 is great.

“It’s going to be a very interesting race. We all go a bit into the unknown.

“We haven’t done any high-fuel runs yet, so it’s going to be important to take care of those tyres and try anticipate as much as possible which axle will degrade first. This is where I will focus tomorrow.”

Ferrari has arrived at the Nurburgring with upgrades to its bargeboards as it continues to search for pace amid a challenging campaign.

Leclerc hailed the team’s development path, insisting that the search for minor gains, rather than one major leap, is working in its favour.

“There were upgrades this weekend that worked in the proper way,” he said.

“We are not trying to find an update that is giving a huge amount of lap time, just small differences every weekend which for now is working well.

“Every time we are bringing something on the car, it’s working, which was not the case in the past. This is very important and it helps us to build a solid base for the car.”

Leclerc’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who Ferrari says is also running the upgrades, failed to progress into Q3 and is set to start Sunday’s race from 11th position.

LECLERC AFTER STRONG PERFORMANCE IN QUALIFYING LECLERC AFTER STRONG PERFORMANCE IN QUALIFYING

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