Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) narrowly missed out on a front-row grid spot at Silverstone Saturday, as Charles Leclerc qualified 3rd, just 0.079s off of Pole, but with both Ferrari racers set to start on the softer Pirelli tire, the Scuderia believes its race strategy will pay off Sunday.
Mr. Leclerc insisted he was not disappointed with P3, despite coming so close to overhauling Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, having got everything he could from his SF90 racer
Both he and Sebastian Vettel, in 6th place, will now line up on the the Red rubber for Sunday’s race, while their MercedesAMG and Red Bull Racing rivals will start on the slower but more durable medium compound.
“Third place is the best we could have done today and I’m very happy about it,” said Mr. Leclerc after the session having Topped final practice earlier in the day.
“In Q2 we were quite good, but then in Q3 I think Mercedes turned up a little bit the engines. They were very, very quick, also around the corners.”
“I think he did a fantastic lap, nothing more left,” added team boss Mattia Binotto, who believes Ferrari’s race strategy could allow him to get ahead of the Silver Arrows on Sunday.
“We did a very similar choice in Austria and I think that in the first stint we will perform well, and we believe that the soft tires could be good tires for the 1st stint of the race.
“But only tomorrow we may learn. But at least it is something different to the others and maybe it will come to our benefit,” Mr. Binotto said.
Mr. Vettel looks for strong race tomorrow, despite confessing to being less comfortable with his car than Mr. Leclerc, as evidenced by the half-sec deficit to his team mate.
“The race is never a problem,” he said. “I would rather start higher up, but in the race normally it is fine. Mercedes will be very quick, but I believe our race pace is fine.
Sebastian Vettel delivered victory for Ferrari at Silverstone last year, the Big Q: Will he repeat Sunday?
Mr. Bottas pips Mr. Hamilton for the Pole
Ferrari is the Aristocrat of the automotive sector.
Enzo Ferrari’s iconic Italian Supercar manufacturer claimed the title according to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 2019 report launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
HeffX-LTN overall technical outlook for RACE is Very Bullish, very light overhead resistance now stands at 171.67, and very strong support at 164.71, all Key indicators are Very Bullish in here. Ferrari finished at 166.51+ 08 Friday in NY.
Tune in here for the racing this weekend.
