Ferrari F1 News: Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel put in a much-improved performance for Ferrari at Nurburgring qualifying for the Eifel Grand Prix.
Ferrari brought in upgrades for the cold-weather race at Nurburgring, and going by Saturday, it seems to have worked. Both drivers made it to Top 5 in FP3, a rare occurrence this season. In qualifying, Charles Leclerc put in an impressive showing as he finished P4, ahead of the Red Bull of Alex Albon.
Leclerc was evidently pleasantly surprised with his and Ferrari’s performance, especially considering their struggles in cold weather. He was speaking to Sky F1, after the day’s events were done with:
“I’m very happy. Quite surprised, to be honest, with the performance we’ve had this morning and this afternoon, especially in those conditions, as we were expecting to struggle in cold conditions and instead we are performing quite well. So the lap was very good, the last lap, and P4, so very happy with this.”
“I really hope to bring a good result home tomorrow. It’s going to be a tricky race I think – we’re going into the race with a lot of unknowns because we haven’t done any high fuel running yet, but let’s see – I will try to make the best out of it.”
Sebastian Vettel has a free shot at tyres for Sunday
Vettel, meanwhile, struggled for grip in Sector 1, which ultimately prevented him from making it to Q3. He does look better, however, and with the upgrades kicking in, could end up with his best finish of the season tomorrow. Provided, of course, there are no engine failures or unnecessary crashes.
“For me (the car) was very similar (to FP3). I struggled a lot in Sector 1, I just didn’t have more grip than what I could extract. Other than that it was okay. We have the choice to start on a different set [of tyres in the race], but we’ll see what we’ll do. Hopefully, it turns out to be an advantage one way or the other,”
