Charles Leclerc Reflects on Singapore Qualifying Struggles

Charles Leclerc found himself pondering what might have been after narrowly missing out on pole position to Max Verstappen for the Singapore Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver admitted to some "mistakes" and "misjudgement" that hampered his qualifying performance.

Ferrari had shown promise during the weekend, with Leclerc earning a double podium in the Sprint and Lewis Hamilton setting the pace in Q1 and Q2. However, Verstappen's effort secured him provisional pole, and with Hamilton unable to improve, Leclerc slotted into P2, just 0.054 seconds shy of the Red Bull driver.

Reflecting on his performance, Leclerc said, "Let’s say that the good lap was on the right lap at the end, but I had a lot of struggles during this Qualifying. Q1 and Q2 were very difficult." He noted some unusual behavior from his car, "I had some weird things going on with the brakes, the car pulling a bit under braking, which is not so nice on a track like here. But then in Q3, the lap was okay. I did some mistakes, and I think there was the potential to be on pole today, but Max just did a better job."

Leclerc mentioned that he made some changes to his car setup before qualifying, feeling relatively happy with it the day before. "At the end of the day, it was just a bit of misjudgement in Q3 – with the wind, maybe, we could have done a bit of a better job," he said. "But I think if you ask all the drivers on the grid, everybody can find something on that last lap in Q3."

While Leclerc managed a front-row start, Hamilton had to settle for P3, wrestling with oversteer issues that left him contemplating what could have been if he had approached the session differently. "Another difficult Q3," he admitted. "Congrats to Max; he did a great job. We made some changes going into Qualifying, the car was feeling so much better, and I really felt like she had more in her."

Hamilton described the challenge of finding the "sweet spot" with the car as it teetered between over the edge and under the limit. After a strong start in Q1 and Q2, he faced difficulties in Q3, "snaps into [Turns] 1 and 3 put me two-tenths down. The rest of the lap was good. Then the last lap, just again, struggled with snapping."

Despite the challenges, the weekend marked a positive step for Ferrari in Singapore, with Hamilton having converted P6 into P2 during the Sprint. Looking ahead, Hamilton acknowledged Red Bull's strong performance, "Red Bull have done a fantastic job; they’ve done a great job with their engine, but I think also with their car. It’s obviously a great team, and I think they brought an upgrade in Baku which has really put them at the front."

Nonetheless, Hamilton remained optimistic about Ferrari's chances, "I think it’s really still a good result for us, to have two Ferraris up there. We can definitely… hopefully work as a team tomorrow to try and hold onto Max, and put them under pressure. I think that’s the only way it’s going to be. I’m sure he’s going to be fast, but hopefully together, as a team, we can potentially… Who knows? We’ll see if we can get ahead of him."