Leclerc ended qualifying early to save tires for the race

Charles Leclerc was very close to the best starting position in Bahrain, but the Ferrari driver tactically opted not to make another attempt, saving a set of tires for the race.

As a result, the Monaco native slipped from second place to third when he was overtaken by the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, and although it seemed that there was some kind of failure of the car, Ferrari announced that it was a tactical move.

"We have to be realistic," Leclerc said after qualifying, Red Bull and Aston Martin will obviously be very fast in the race, so I think we did the right thing when we were prepared to lose one or two starting places, but start the race on new tires. I'm sure we made the right decision, but if that's true, we'll see tomorrow."

The man from Monaco said that the team from Maranello was positively surprised by the speed of the racing car in qualifying, where it could also win the best starting position.

"I didn't expect this after testing, not even after free practice sessions, which were not easy for us, but we found speed in qualifying. But we have to realize that compared to Red Bull, we are a bit behind in race simulations. I think it is better for us to start the race from third place with new tires than from first with used tires. I'm not sure if we would have won pole position, but it would have been very close.”