Charles Leclerc teases pole position fight: 'There's a possibility'

Charles Leclerc has hinted that he could be in the fight for pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, revealing that it is a "possibility" based on Ferrari's performance on the opening day. The Monegasque finished both of Friday's practice sessions second on the timesheets—first behind Lewis Hamilton, then behind Lando Norris. In second practice—the more representative of the two sessions—Leclerc was just 0.083s adrift of Norris, giving the Tifosi plenty to get excited about at Monza. Ferrari looked competitive on Friday, although Leclerc is aware that the team must extract consistency from the SF-25 in final practice before qualifying. Asked if the car was tricky to handle on high fuel, Leclerc said: "Both actually, on low fuel and high fuel it's been quite tricky but fast.  "So, I'd rather be in this position than having a consistent car, but slow. We need to work a little bit on consistency. I think on the short runs, we managed to extract more or less what there was in the car.  "However, we need to get that consistency, and we are working on that. But I think with the two cars, we tried different things, especially in FP1, and it seems that we kind of know the direction [to take]. So, I hope it's the right one, but I'm confident it is." Based on the opening day, Leclerc appears to have a potential shot at a famous pole position, although he fears McLaren and Red Bull both have more pace in hand.  Despite this, the 27-year-old does think he has a chance of something which would trigger an eruption of noise. "That's a difficult question," said Leclerc, discussing if he can fight for pole. "For now, I think it's on the cards, but I don't know how much Red Bull and McLaren have pushed just yet.  "I think they have more than what we have in the pocket, so we still need to improve the car, but if we do, then I think there's a possibility."