Leclerc "surprised to be 1st and 2nd" in Japan as four-race pole streak ends

Charles Leclerc has praised his Ferrari teammate for securing pole position ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel ended Leclec's four-race pole streak with a 1:27.064 in the final run of Q3. 

Speaking straight after the session, Leclerc was dishing out the praise to Vettel while admitting he was surprised to beat Mercedes around Suzuka. 

"To be honest I’ve been struggling with the lap now in quali, apart from the last sector, where I did a few mistakes but pole was not possible. Seb was just too quick so congratulations to him," Leclerc said. 

"Very surprised to be first and second after the free practice we’ve had but the race is the most important and hopefully we’ll be able to keep these positions. Mercedes are very quick in the race, so it’s not going to be easy. We’ll just try to keep focused on our job and keep this one-two."

It's the first time a Mercedes drive won't be on pole position in Japan during the current engine era.