Charles Leclerc’s Dominance in Grave Danger as American Sensation Reveals His “Greatest Strength”

You may be quick over one lap, but the points are scored on Sunday. This has been an adage in F1 for a long time. Still, every driver has a skill set that makes him like one particular part of a race weekend. Many drivers feel comfortable extracting pace over one lap in qualifying. Charles Leclerc is a classic example of a superb qualifier on the current grid. Besides Leclerc, there are several other top drivers who can be amazing over one lap. Although, the latest addition to this speed club is Logan Sargeant.

In an interview with Motorsport-Total.com, Sargeant revealed how a one-lap pace in qualifying is his biggest strength. He stated, “To be honest, that’s qualifying. It’s always been my favorite part of the weekend when the car is light, the new tires are on and you have the chance to go all out and give absolutely everything.” [translated via Google]

Like Logan, even Charles Leclerc enjoys qualifying a lot. The manner in which the Monegasque extracts pace from his Ferrari is amazing to watch. So if Sargeant can show his qualifying pace as good as Leclerc, the latter’s dominance over one lap is in grave danger.

The Williams driver concluded, “I would say that’s probably my greatest strength. That’s what I’ve always enjoyed the most.” Logan may not have the machinery from his team to dazzle in the top 5 in qualifying. Still, the American sensation would want to make an impression with his one-lap pace.

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Like Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc, many drivers have these peculiar preferences between qualifying and races. Meanwhile, there are also drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen who just show smashing performance in both disciplines. While the latter has given Sargeant some golden advice for his rookie F1 year, he would also hope the youngster works on his race pace as well.

Besides Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc, which other drivers Prefer Qualifying over the Race?

Currently, there is a mix of drivers on the F1 grid who have preferences for qualifying and the race. To start with, the teammate of Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard is usually quicker in the races on Sunday. He also can pull off a good qualifying lap once in a while. But, he mostly is a Sunday driver with a better race pace.

But, Sargeant and Leclerc have company. Former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas is also a really quick man during qualifying. Similarly, Bottas’ successor George Russell is famously called “Mr. Saturday” due to his rapid qualifying exploits in F1.

At McLaren, Lando Norris is another superb qualifier currently. Norris can pull off some stunning laps in qualifying, especially during wet track conditions in the rain. But like Norris’ friend Sainz, other drivers prefer to be quicker during the races. At the end of the day, the points are scored on race day only.

Sergio Perez is a classic example of a Sunday driver. Perez may not qualify the best. Yet, in the race, the Mexican driver can be matching his pace with the best in the business. Meanwhile, there are champion drivers like Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and the now-retired Sebastian Vettel who are masters of both these aspects.

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Eventually, to win a race and be a world champion, a driver needs to have all the skill sets. So, if Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant wish to be a champion, they have to keep up and develop their race pace too. Which drivers do you prefer to watch – A superb qualifier on Saturday or a stunning racer on Sunday in the Grand Prix?