German Grand Prix – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was unable to mount a challenge for pole position after suffering from technical issues in the third part of qualifying.
The Monegasque driver went into the qualifying as the favourite after topping the final free practice session, and ran in the top two in both Q1 and Q2.
However, not long after team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered session-ending turbocharger problems in Q1, Leclerc’s hope of taking a third career Formula 1 pole position were ended by a fuel system issue.
This meant he was unable to compete in the third part of qualifying and will start the race from 10th position.
Commenting on a “difficult” day for the team, Leclerc was hoping to profit from the overtaking opportunities available at the Hockenheimring:
“It definitely wasn’t the same problem as Sebastian. On my side, it was a fuel system problem. It’s a shame, but we’ll be trying to understand it so we don’t reproduce it. It’s a difficult day for the team, but I hope it will be a very positive day tomorrow.
“I felt great in the car, and the car felt great all weekend, so it’s a shame that it’s ended up like this.”
The saving grace for Leclerc is that he starts the race on the medium-compound tyres, having chosen to avoid the soft tyre to progress into Q3.
This German Grand Prix qualifying result is Ferrari’s worst combined result since the 2014 British Grand Prix, where tyre confusion in damp conditions put them to the back of the grid in 19th and 20th.
To view the full results from qualifying, click here.
