Leclerc ‘really, really’ hopes Sainz can lend a hand

With Carlos Sainz right behind him on the Barcelona grid, Charles Leclerc hopes his team-mate can “really, really” help in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Even better would be if Ferrari can secure the 1-2.

Leclerc will start Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix from pole position, the Ferrari driver beating Max Verstappen by three-tenths of a second in Saturday’s qualifying.

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Verstappen, though, was hamstrung by a DRS problem on his final flying lap that meant he wasn’t able to defend his provisional pole.

As such he’ll start from second place with the other Ferrari of Sainz P3 on the grid.

Leclerc hopes his team-mate can get involved in the battle for the victory, or at least the lead off the line.

“I really, really hope so,” he said.

“I hope we can do a one-two together with Carlos. It will be great for the team. And yeah, we’ll give it our all.”

The pressure was on and @Charles_Leclerc delivered #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FXPRHNE9J1

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 21, 2022

Ferrari have lagged behind Red Bull in the past two grands prix, off the long-run pace of the RB18 at Imola and again in Miami.

Leclerc believes they found “something” during Saturday’s final practice that will hopefully give them the edge.

“We’ve done a bit of a long run, which was much better compared to Friday,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have any other references because we