Charles Leclerc secures pole in Belgium as Ferrari dominates Mercedes

Posted November 25, 2019

(CNN) — Following a year of disappointments and consistently playing catchup to Mercedes, for Ferrari there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Charles Leclerc drove to earn pole position with teammate Sebastian Vettel qualifying to secure a front row lockout to the manufacturer in Belgium.
The Monegasque driver was streets ahead of the competition, finishing more than seven-tenths of Lewis Hamilton in the third and another before Vettel .
Ferrari is with no Grand Prix win in the 12 races so far this season — with a totally dominant Mercedes winning 10 of people and it’s been Max Verstappen that’s provided Mercedes’ biggest challenge in recent weeks’ Red Bull.
“It felt good, the first sector was not quite what we wanted, but in the second corner onwards we had been very strong and it felt amazing,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “We need to focus on our race pace a bit, but I believe we ought to be strong tomorrow.”
Despite Ferrari’s victory , more questions are likely to be asked of the functionality of Vettel and his inaugural teammate was finished far behind by the four-time world champion.
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It’s now been more than a year since the German won a race, coming this time last year at Spa, although despite acknowledging his final qualifying spins turned into “mess” he pipped Hamilton to second place by just 0.015 seconds.
It turned out to be a chaotic qualifying session that saw drivers queuing up to start their laps that are flying and at one stage, Hamilton had to brake to avoid swerving into the rear of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
“In the end it is good we secured the first row,” Vettel told Sky Sports. “I was in the queue that doesn’t help but no explanations, we look forward to the race tomorrow and we’ve got good speed from the car — it was a lot better now.”
That Hamilton was even able to compete Saturday was a miracle in itself, even after a big crash in the last practice session made his automobile profoundly damaged and in need of serious repairs.
Tribute was paid by the Brit at his garage that was able to get his car race prepared to the group.
“FP3 (third clinic ) was a dreadful session for me and of course it’s painful because you know how many worked to create those parts and that many people place the car together,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.
“But my men back at the garage are all faultless, always give 100% and I am so grateful to them to get me back out here. I had been attempting to pay back them with a good qualifying session,” he said.
He added:”Ferrari have done a fantastic job today but I trust we could bring the fight to them ”
It is the second time after his car lost power with only a couple laps 34, at Bahrain, Leclerc has been denied success.
The 21-year-old will be hoping the next time is the charm as he calls for a Grand Prix win in Formula One.

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