“Everybody is very close at the race pace, it will be difficult for us”

Although he finished the qualifying laps in the 2nd place, Charles Leclerc, who will start from the 12th place due to a 10-place grid penalty, thinks that a very difficult race awaits him tomorrow.

Leclerc, who received a 10-place grid penalty for the Saudi Arabian GP after losing two electric control units in Bahrain, finished second in qualifying in Jeddah 0.155 seconds behind pole but will start 12th due to his penalty.

Saying that the race pace is “a little better” compared to Bahrain, Leclerc still expects a very difficult race tomorrow.

Speaking after the qualifying rounds, Leclerc said: “Am I happy? Yes and no. On the one hand, we had a very difficult session in terms of tempo for us, but I am very happy with my lap. I gave my all to that round. I was really at the limit.”

“On the other hand, Red Bull is on another planet and we’re struggling a bit. So we have to keep pushing, that’s what we do as a team.”

“Tomorrow won’t be easy. I have a 10-place grid penalty, so I’ll start a little bit further back. We’re going to focus on the race and hopefully get back to the front as quickly as possible.”

“Our race pace is holding up pretty well. It’s still very difficult to compare race paces because in practice two, everyone followed a different schedule.”

“We’ll see tomorrow but our pace has been a bit better compared to Bahrain. It will not be easy though because everyone is very close at race pace.”