Charles Leclerc was ecstatic after claiming his second top ten start of the season after breaking into the top ten shootout at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon.
The Monegasque racer has been on the pace all weekend long and was thought as a possibility for the top ten in Qualifying, particularly as he placed an amazing seventh in final practice earlier in the day, and Leclerc stormed through into Q3 and will start the race from ninth.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team racer felt it was a great team effort to get inside the top ten, but the focus must now be on Sunday’s race, where he will be aiming for a sixth top ten finish in seven races and his fourth in a row after points in the Canadian, French and Austrian Grand Prix.
“I am very happy to have finished qualifying in Q3 again,” said Leclerc. “This is great for the entire team, and it was a strong team effort.
“Now, we must focus on the race, and continue working the same way to have a good finish tomorrow. That is what will count in the end. Thank you to the team for today, and I look forward to being back in the car tomorrow.”
Team-mate Marcus Ericsson had ambitions of a strong Qualifying as well after ending final practice inside the top ten, and although he made it into Q2, he was unable to better fifteenth on the grid, although he feels Sauber will have a strong car in race conditions.
“It was a mixed qualifying for me,” said Ericsson. “After a strong performance in FP3 (P10), Q1 was a really good effort – we managed to put everything together and advanced to Q2 again.
“The second session was a bit disappointing, as I was not able to improve there.
“Despite this result, I still feel confident for the race. We had a good race pace on Friday and I feel strong in the car. Hopefully, we can bounce back and be even more competitive tomorrow.”
