Leclerc targets confidence boost after P2 in Austria Qualifying as he assesses Ferrari chances against Mercedes

Charles Leclerc has conceded he feels like “I’m leaving a little bit of margin” in Qualifying and that he hopes to regain confidence following a tough run of weekends, despite claiming P2 on the grid for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari man will line up ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton after Mercedes’ George Russell sealed pole amid a dramatic end to Qualifying – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed out on his final effort while Russell’s was still good enough for top spot despite having to lift for the yellow flag that came out for the Dutchman.

However, Leclerc’s P2 result marks a change in Qualifying fortunes after a challenging run of weekends, with the Monegasque crashing out on Saturday in both Monaco and Barcelona before mechanical issues denied him any points in those respective Grands Prix.

With that in mind, Leclerc conceded he was conscious of having a clean weekend this time around at the Red Bull Ring as he looks to recover some lost levels of confidence.

“Yeah, I’m a bit happier but then I’m never really satisfied unless I’m on pole or I win,” Leclerc said when asked if he was pleased with the result. “It’s been a long time as well so I just hope this changes very quickly.

“But, at the same time, it’s true in the last two weekends that on Saturdays it was tough but we had the pace I would say. But then, on the Sundays, we had mechanical problems. We didn’t score points and that kind of stays a bit in the head.

“I cannot lie, since then you have a bit of a mentality of just trying to do a clean lap and having a clean weekend – [to] start to score points again and getting into the rhythm again. I feel like I’m leaving a little bit of margin on the table in Qualifying, which is normal after the last few weekends. I just hope I get back to the level of confidence I had before to try and extract more from this car.”

With team mate Hamilton behind in P3, and the Ferraris sandwiched between the two Mercedes of Russell and Kimi Antonelli in fourth, Leclerc vowed that he and the Scuderia would try everything to challenge the Silver Arrows in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

However, the Monegasque also conceded that the Mercedes cars were going to be tough opposition in Spielberg.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult,” he explained when ask if Ferrari could take the fight. “They seem to be very strong and they were very strong on Friday but I don’t give up.

“I try everything tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes but at the moment I think Mercedes has an advantage.”

For Hamilton, following his fairytale maiden win for Ferrari in Barcelona, P3 represented a solid performance particularly after a mistake on his first Q3 run ramped up the pressure to nail a solid a lap on his final attempt.

However, he also agreed with Leclerc that his former team – where he won six of his seven World Championships – appeared to still have the edge despite Ferrari closing the deficit.

“I think we made progress overnight and we closed the gap a little bit – half the gap,” Hamilton said. “We were six tenths down and now, today, we were just under three tenths so that’s a real positive.

“In terms of the race pace, I don’t know how it’s going to be and how we drive it tomorrow. Hopefully we can be closer to them tomorrow.

“Time will tell – the good thing is there’s two Ferraris there sandwiched between the two Mercedes so hopefully we can execute the strategy to really keep them on the heels.”