Leclerc confesses to crucial mistake after puzzling Sainz defeat

Charles Leclerc has conceded he failed to prepare his tyres correctly in an otherwise puzzling defeat to Carlos Sainz in Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying.

Sainz will start the race from P2 on the grid with Leclerc in fourth, some 0.373s slower than his team-mate - a gap that was also present in Q2 after Leclerc had shaded the Spanish racer in Q1.

Generating tyre temperature in the frigid Las Vegas conditions has been a challenge all weekend for drivers, with Leclerc describing how he was initially flummoxed by the defeat.

"The drivers that have done a better job are the ones that have managed to put temperature in the tyres - and I have no idea what I have done wrong on that last lap," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. 

"But I definitely did something wrong because the tyres felt so bad and when I got into Turn 1, I had zero grip and that is a bit of a shame.

"I felt like the pace was there, but the preparation of the tyre was really bad on my side.

"We've had no doubt the characteristics of our car fitting the track, however, we had a big doubt on how quickly we could manage to put temperature in the tyres. 

"Unfortunately, the worry was right because we've been struggling with that since FP1, but Carlos has understood something about it that I didn't quite manage to reproduce."

Leclerc's race pace

Looking ahead to the race, Leclerc felt his strong race pace simulations could aid Ferrari's constructors' bid as it looks to close the gap on McLaren, which currently stands at 36 points, with Lando Norris sixth and Oscar Piastri eighth.

"I'm more positive. I think we are strong on that," he added on the race.

"The first few laps will be difficult, but after that, we'll be strong, we've got to take the points and do the maximum to take as many points as possible, and then we'll think about Qatar."