Ferrari explains first qualifying defeat since F1 2019 summer break
Charles Leclerc says a Q3 set-up change cost him on his final lap in Mexican Grand Prix qualifying, the first race since the summer where Ferrari has not taken pole
Leclerc was able to complete his lap ahead of Valtteri Bottas's crash in the dying seconds of qualifying in Mexico City, but his struggles with the handling of his car in the final sector cost him as he could not improve on his first effort.
That left him adrift of eventual pole-winner Max Verstappen, who improved his best time after passing the crashed Mercedes to take his first pole since the pre-summer-break Hungarian Grand Prix - after which Ferrari took pole in Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Russia and Japan.
UPDATE - Leclerc will now start the 2019 Mexican GP from pole after Verstappen was penalised post-qualifying for failing to slow for yellow flags at Bottas's crash
"The first lap was quite good," Leclerc said after qualifying.
"[But] the second one we tried to put a bit more balance on the car to have a bit more front, which helped in the first sector but then the last sector was a bit tricky and I lost the rear.
"So I lost the time I made up in the first sector.
"But Red Bull was very quick, Max especially was extremely quick. We expecting them to be strong.
"After FP3 we thought we had a shot for pole, and then qualifying they were too quick. And race is still long tomorrow."
Leclerc's team-mate Sebastian Vettel explained that he had a poor first lap in Q3 as he did not "peak" at the right time, and was then forced to abandon his final lap due to Bottas's crash.
"I had a mistake on my first run so I was quite confident on second run I can make up for it," said Vettel.
"But unfortunately there was double yellow so I had to slow down and the lap was lost.
"[It's] not ideal. I didn't peak when it was time to peak in the sessions, especially Q3.
"Other than that the car felt good. There was more in hand. Obviously Max was a fair bit faster than us on the key lap.
"We'll see how everything gets going. We start on the medium tyres, and we'll take it from there. Obviously it's a long race around here."
Leclerc is confident that he can jump Verstappen on the first lap, after losing out to Vettel in Russia - the last time he started on pole.
"This time I won't be starting from pole, [I am] second, so hopefully I can take the tow from Max and have an opportunity," he said. "The start will be important, for sure."
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