Charles Leclerc qualified second for the Singapore Grand Prix, just 0.054 seconds behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen, after admitting brake problems and a wind misjudgement in Q3 prevented Ferrari from claiming top spot on the grid.
Leclerc, who surged ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in the final Q3 runs to secure the front row alongside Verstappen, said the session was far from straightforward. “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,” the Monegasque driver said. “Q1 and Q2 were very difficult.”
The Ferrari driver pointed to an unusual handling issue as a key factor in his struggles through the earlier phases. “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,” Leclerc said. He added that setup changes made ahead of qualifying contributed to the difficulties, having adjusted the car slightly from a configuration he was largely satisfied with the previous day.
Despite recovering to post a competitive Q3 lap, Leclerc acknowledged Verstappen simply executed better when it mattered. “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. But I think if you ask all the drivers on the grid, everybody can find something on that last lap in Q3.”
Hamilton, who had set the pace through Q1 and Q2, was unable to replicate that form in Q3 and will start third. The seven-time world champion struggled with oversteer, with snapping through Turns 1 and 3 costing him two tenths on his first run. “There’s a real fine line with our car where it’s over the edge or under the limit, and finding that sweet spot is very, very difficult,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton acknowledged he may have overcorrected his approach heading into Q3. “In hindsight maybe I shouldn’t have, so it wasn’t great enough from myself,” he said, while crediting Verstappen and Red Bull for their recent form. “Red Bull have done a fantastic job; they’ve done a great job with their engine, but I think also with their car.”
Despite starting from third, Hamilton expressed optimism that the two Ferraris could work together to pressure Verstappen in the race. “Hopefully together, as a team, we can potentially… Who knows? We’ll see if we can get ahead of him,” he said. The result follows a strong Sprint weekend for Ferrari, with Hamilton converting a sixth-place starting position into second place during the Sprint race.