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Charles Leclerc says he made a ‘philosophical’ change to his Ferrari car before qualifying at the British Grand Prix.
Leclerc was the nearest challenger to Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli on Saturday afternoon, ultimately finishing just under two-tenths adrift of pole position.
Importantly for the Monegasque given recent trends at Ferrari, he got the better of teammate Hamilton. At the Briton’s home race and arguably his strongest circuit, this was a morale-boosting feat.
Charles Leclerc ‘had an idea’ about how to beat Lewis Hamilton at British Grand Prix
Leclerc had struggled relative to Hamilton in the Sprint portion of the weekend, lagging over three-tenths behind in qualifying before two places and 10 seconds behind in the race itself.
But speaking to Canal Plus, he expressed confidence that a ‘pretty big change’ before qualifying would turn things around, not just at Silverstone but at upcoming races too.
Name the biggest winner and biggest loser from Saturday’s qualifying session at the British GP 👇
Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth pole position of the season at Silverstone!
He said: “I have an idea to change something that’s quite philosophical; it’s a pretty big change that I’m going to make for qualifying, but I’m quite confident that it can go in the right direction, and if that’s the case, I think it’s something we can bring to all circuits.
“So I continue to work; it takes time, but I’m working flat out.”
When asked if he would reveal his plan after qualifying, a smiling Leclerc replied: “No, sorry.”
The eight-time Grand Prix winner has been experimenting extensively lately. Most notably, Leclerc changed his brake discs after crashing out of the Monaco GP to mirror Hamilton.
The changes are a response to one of his trickiest spells as a Ferrari driver. In the five races since Japan, he has only averaged six points per weekend.
Still, Leclerc’s fans would argue that his struggles have been overstated. By earning a second front-row start in succession, he moves back ahead of Hamilton in the intra-team qualifying head-to-head (5-4).
It’s only one session for now, but perhaps this will be a lasting breakthrough.
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