Leclerc claims session was stressful despite dominant pole lap

Charles Leclerc grabbed pole for the first qualifying session of the year as the rookie set a blistering lap to go over six-tenths of a second clear of his rivals.

Despite seemingly breezing his way to the top of the standings, the Monegasque driver said that it was a very stressful session as he didn't know how the pace of his rivals would compare to his.

"We never really know what to expect from the others. To be honest, my team and my engineer have done an amazing job with the set-up of the car. It was amazing. I was not really happy with my first lap, but we were still P1 which was a bit surprising to me."

Leclerc hailed what he called "a really good lap" on his final run and managed to take the point of most advantage for tomorrow's race which will run before the third practice session of Formula 1. 

"And on the second lap, I managed to put everything together although I lost a little bit in the last corner, but apart from that it was a really good lap. We are quite happy as well with the strategy: we did one push on the first set to keep the tyres for the race so we know we have better tyres for the race. It looks good. Tomorrow we will have to make a good start and then manage the tyre."

Fergal Walsh