Scuderia Ferrari had a mixed performance in qualifying on the eve of their 1000th Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc was the man who brought the most joy to the team with a P5 performance. That showing gives him an outside chance to fight for a podium in Mugello.

Leclerc had been impressive throughout the weekend. He even set the third fastest lap time in FP1. But fans probably wouldn’t have expected him to be among the top 5 come qualy day.

In qualifying, the Monegasque, unsurprisingly, looked far the better driver in the cockpit of the SF1000. After a brilliant lap that sealed his P5 grid spot, Leclerc was more than happy with his showing.

“Ohhh yes, baby! Worked pretty hard for that P5, but F*ck, the lap was good, “ said Leclerc after his race engineer informed him of the grid order.

The Tifosi would have been apprehensive of experiencing any joy, considering Ferrari’s struggles in 2020. However, Leclerc has definitely given them a brief moment of happiness. If the Monegasque could miraculously land up on the podium tomorrow, one can only imagine the crazy celebrations that would unfold in Italy.

How did Sebastian Vettel fare in comparison to Charles Leclerc?

While Leclerc enjoyed a happy outing in Mugello, the same can’t be said of his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel. The 4-times world champion had another nightmare of a performance in the Ferrari.

Vettel made it into Q2 by the barest of margins, finishing ahead of Romain Grosjean by only 5 hundredths of a second. So, the writing was already on the wall for Vettel even before the second round of qualifying began.

And as you’d expect, after his showing in Q1, Vettel got knocked out in Q2 and will start the race in P14. To rub salt into the wounds, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished qualifying in P13. Desperate times indeed for Vettel. Oh, how much must he be dreaming of driving the Aston Martin next year?

As things stand, Ferrari look well set to secure some vital points in tomorrow’s race. They can’t afford to lose ground in the tight midfield battle with Renault, McLaren, and Racing Point. However, the Scuderia may not want to count their chickens before they hatch.

Stranger things have happened this season. But boy will Ferrari and the Tifosi be praying for a special podium finish tomorrow.