Vasseur reveals how the clouds influenced Leclerc's qualifying position

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has revealed that Charles Leclerc deliberately sacrificed his qualifying result to save more medium and hard tyre for the race.

Lewis Hamilton complained about his gearbox in FP3 while his team-mate Charles Leclerc looked to be in fine form as he took third in final practice.

Leclerc and Hamilton then did get both cars into the final qualifying segment which was a good first step. However, the Monegasque only had a single set of fresh softs for Q3 which meant that he only ran once, with his effort having been enough for P7 on the grid.

His team-mate was able to have two goes, his second quick enough for fifth which was a good result considering how unhappy he was with his car through the practice sessions.

Reflecting on the Scuderia's qualifying day at Barcelona, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has revealed that Leclerc deliberately sacrificed his qualifying result to save more medium and hard tyre for the race.

"From the start of the weekend, we made a strategic decision with Charles to prioritise the race, choosing to keep two sets of Medium tyres and today we also opted to keep one set of Softs for the race that had only done an out-in lap, so we decided to sacrifice some performance in qualifying."

With clouds gathering above the Barcelona circuit in the final moments of qualifying, some drivers could benefit from the slightly lower track temperatures which further added to Leclerc's difficulties.

"As for his actual grid position, it’s probable he wasn’t helped by the clouds that appeared at the very end of the session. We believe this decision will pay off in the race given the expected high temperatures and high tyre degradation.

"As for Lewis, I think qualifying went pretty well for him, even if we had to use two sets of Softs early in the session. He put together a good lap in Q2, immediately making the cut and his Q3 was solid so we can expect a good race from him."