{"id":591792,"date":"2026-08-21T17:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591792\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:58:17","slug":"my-best-qualifying-lap-this-year-ferraris-charles-leclerc-optimistic-after-2026-formula-1-dutch-grand-prix-sprint-qualifying-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591792\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;My best qualifying lap this year&#8217; \u2013 Ferrari&#8217;s Charles Leclerc optimistic after 2026 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have reflected on their different Sprint Qualifying performances of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with the former describing it as &#8220;my best Qualifying lap this year&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\"><a class=\"text-brand-hot-red underline decoration-1 hover:decoration-[3px]\" data-f1rd-a7s-click=\"rich_text_atom_click\" data-f1rd-a7s-context=\"eyJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoibGVjbGVyY19saW5rX2NsaWNrZWQiLCJjbGlja1RleHQiOnRydWUsInBhdGgiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3JtdWxhMS5jb20vZW4vZHJpdmVycy9jaGFybGVzLWxlY2xlcmMiLCJwYXRoVHlwZSI6ImludGVybmFsIn0=\" href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/drivers\/charles-leclerc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Leclerc<\/a> will start third for Saturday&#8217;s 24-lap Sprint, as just 0.055s covered himself, <a class=\"text-brand-hot-red underline decoration-1 hover:decoration-[3px]\" data-f1rd-a7s-click=\"rich_text_atom_click\" data-f1rd-a7s-context=\"eyJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoicG9sZXNpdHRlcl9nZW9yZ2VfcnVzc2VsbF9saW5rX2NsaWNrZWQiLCJjbGlja1RleHQiOnRydWUsInBhdGgiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3JtdWxhMS5jb20vZW4vbGF0ZXN0L2FydGljbGUvcnVzc2VsbC1jaGFyZ2VzLXRvLXBvbGUtcG9zaXRpb24taW4tZHV0Y2gtZ3JhbmQtcHJpeC1zcHJpbnQtcXVhbGlmeWluZy1haGVhZC1vZi1ub3JyaXMuNGFnWHo0OUtsejVoRWxqbk9rS1J3YSIsInBhdGhUeXBlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwifQ==\" href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/latest\/article\/russell-charges-to-pole-position-in-dutch-grand-prix-sprint-qualifying-ahead-of-norris.4agXz49Klz5hEljnOkKRwa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">polesitter George Russell<\/a> and Lando Norris in second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">The Monegasque driver was pleased with his performance as Formula 1 returned from its summer break, especially after only one hour of practice earlier in the day on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">&#8220;I will have preferred to start first but at the end of the day, I&#8217;m very happy about today because honestly, I think it&#8217;s my best Qualifying lap this year,&#8221; said Leclerc.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">&#8220;That means we are doing something right also with the feeling. Doesn&#8217;t mean it stays there forever, but at least it&#8217;s good steps in the right direction and especially after such a long break, you kind of want that feeling to start the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">&#8220;It was a good effort, unfortunately we just missed pole but at least we are more or less in the mix.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\"><a class=\"text-brand-hot-red underline decoration-1 hover:decoration-[3px]\" data-f1rd-a7s-click=\"rich_text_atom_click\" data-f1rd-a7s-context=\"eyJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoiZmVycmFyaV9saW5rX2NsaWNrZWQiLCJjbGlja1RleHQiOnRydWUsInBhdGgiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3JtdWxhMS5jb20vZW4vdGVhbXMvZmVycmFyaSIsInBhdGhUeXBlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwifQ==\" href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/teams\/ferrari\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ferrari<\/a> team mate <a class=\"text-brand-hot-red underline decoration-1 hover:decoration-[3px]\" data-f1rd-a7s-click=\"rich_text_atom_click\" data-f1rd-a7s-context=\"eyJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoiaGFtaWx0b25fbGlua19jbGlja2VkIiwiY2xpY2tUZXh0Ijp0cnVlLCJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZm9ybXVsYTEuY29tL2VuL2RyaXZlcnMvbGV3aXMtaGFtaWx0b24iLCJwYXRoVHlwZSI6ImludGVybmFsIn0=\" href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/drivers\/lewis-hamilton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hamilton<\/a> enters this weekend second in the <a class=\"text-brand-hot-red underline decoration-1 hover:decoration-[3px]\" data-f1rd-a7s-click=\"rich_text_atom_click\" data-f1rd-a7s-context=\"eyJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoiZHJpdmVycydfc3RhbmRpbmdzX2xpbmtfY2xpY2tlZCIsImNsaWNrVGV4dCI6dHJ1ZSwicGF0aCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZvcm11bGExLmNvbS9lbi9yZXN1bHRzLzIwMjYvZHJpdmVycyIsInBhdGhUeXBlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwifQ==\" href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/results\/2026\/drivers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">drivers&#8217; standings<\/a> and Kimi Antonelli&#8217;s closest challenger, the seven-time World Champion 50 points behind heading into the second half of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">But the Briton was disappointed with his performance in Sprint Qualifying, as a small change from practice meant Hamilton could only finish P7, more than six tenths behind Russell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">&#8220;Not a good session unfortunately. This is the way it is,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">&#8220;FP1 felt good, we made subtle adjustments to the car then we got into Qualifying and it was a completely different car. Need to figure out what went wrong and then we&#8217;ll do our best tomorrow.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have reflected on their different Sprint Qualifying performances of the Dutch&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-591792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}