Charles Leclerc hopes Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz can help in the battle against Max Verstappen during Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

On Saturday, the Monegasque, who led all three practice sessions in Barcelona, claimed pole position for the fourth time this season, scoring the Italian team's first pole at the Catalan track since 2008.

While Leclerc enjoyed a healthy three-tenths margin over second-placed Verstappen, he made it difficult for himself with a spin at the final chicane.

"It was a very, very difficult session," he said on the grid post-session. "Especially in Q3 because I did a mistake in the first run of Q3.

"Then obviously I only had one lap - but it went extremely well. I had a few moments on my lap, but at the end I made it stick and I am very, very happy with pole.

"It was a very good lap and the car was amazing too, so we very happy." 

That was a really good one. P1 babyy 😘 pic.twitter.com/lCqv7FtqQQ

— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) May 21, 2022

While Leclerc was the clear favourite for pole before qualifying, looking ahead to the race, Ferrari was the weakest of the now top three teams at the front on long run pace on Friday, following Mercedes' strong gains in Spain.

"I am in a strong position to start the race," the 24-year-old acknowledged. "But we've been struggling with tyres in the last few races compared to Red Bull.

"Max is just behind and if we don't manage those tyres well we will lose that. We need to get on top of it and do a good job tomorrow with tyre management."

As for Carlos Sainz, he had to settle for third on the grid for his home race.

"It's been a tough weekend so far," the Spaniard admitted. "The conditions haven't been the easiest with the heat and with the wind.

"It wasn't the ideal qualifying, because I couldn't set a good lap on the used tyre, but today we managed to put in a decent lap, and that allows us to fight from there tomorrow."

Sainz has already voiced his wish to claim that elusive first F1 win in Barcelona and still sees a chance to do so on Sunday.

"I think the key will be the start, the tyre management," he said. "See if we can get a good start and go from there. But it's a decent position to start.

"Everything is possible tomorrow, we're definitely going to try our best to get ahead at the start and lead from there.

"Probably lacking a new set of tyres for tomorrow for the first stint, but I think anything can happen and we will try our best."

However, his teammate may have other plans, when asked if he would like Sainz's help in trying to negate the pace of Verstappen.

"I really hope so," replied Leclerc. "I hope we can do a one-two together with Carlos. It would be great for the team. We will give it our all."