Marc Priestley has admitted the BBC F1 pundit ‘expected a lot more’ from one driver in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix after their disappointing performance in Styria.
The hills were alive with the sound of Formula 1 power units on Saturday as Max Verstappen secured pole position. For the eighth time this season, the Red Bull driver will take P1 on the grid for a Grand Prix. The 26-year-old smashed Lando Norris of McLaren for pole by 0.404s.
No driver could get close to Verstappen in qualifying for the Austrian GP in the fight for pole. Norris ultimately headed George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton in the top five Q3 places. Oscar Piastri briefly sat in third but lost his fastest lap time for exceeding track limits.
Marc Priestley ‘expected more’ from Charles Leclerc in qualifying for the Austrian GP
Qualifying for the Austrian GP also marked another disappointing session for Sergio Perez of Red Bull. The Mexican could only secure P8 after having to use an extra set of new soft tyres in Q1, leaving him without in Q3. Piastri slipped to P7, with Charles Leclerc only securing P6.
Priestly could not fathom why Perez was so far off the fastest pace in qualifying. But the Red Bull ace was not alone in surprising the ex-McLaren mechanic for the wrong reasons. Leclerc even left much to Priestley’s imagination after struggling to usurp Sainz in the Ferrari garage.
READ MORE: Five unforgettable Austrian GPs from Ferrari’s orders to Hamilton vs Rosberg
Leclerc was 0.246 seconds down on Sainz’s quickest lap time in Q1, 0.088s slower in Q2 and 0.193s slower in Q3. The 26-year-old even never lapped inside the 1:04s like his 29-year-old teammate managed to finish up in P4. It was enough for Priestly to admit he expected more.
“If you look at the teammates of the leaders, we would expect to see Hamilton further up,” Priestley claimed on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. “Perez has been struggling and I would have expected a lot more from Leclerc.”
Charles Leclerc’s Q3 mistake gave Carlos Sainz the advantage
Qualifying for the 2024 Austrian GP marked only the third time this year that Sainz has out-qualified Leclerc in his Ferrari farewell tour. The Spaniard departing the Scuderia at the end of this season also edged the Monegasque back at the Australian GP and the Japanese GP.
Leclerc has since had Sainz’s number in each Grand Prix qualifying session. But he could not come out on top of the Scuderia scrap in Styria as Leclerc hoped for a 25th career pole in F1. Sainz also led the Ferrari quest in qualifying for the Sprint with P5 as Leclerc settled for P10.
A mistake on his last flying lap in qualifying for the Austrian GP will also leave Leclerc kicking himself. The six-time Grand Prix winner tapped the inside kerb at Turn 9 which unsettled his car, pitching Leclerc off through the new gravel trap before T10 and bouncing over the grass.
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