Charles Leclerc believes a podium remains within Ferrari’s reach at Sepang despite qualifying fifth and finishing behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who secured second place. The Monegasque admitted that he failed to anticipate how the circuit would evolve through qualifying, while praising Lewis Hamilton for putting together an excellent lap.
Charles Leclerc will nevertheless start the Bahrain Grand Prix from fourth position because Isack Hadjar must serve an engine penalty. The Ferrari driver ended qualifying around half a second behind Max Verstappen’s pole time and almost two and a half tenths behind Lewis Hamilton. The result adds another chapter to the season-long Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton head-to-head comparison.
Charles Leclerc praises Lewis Hamilton after Sepang qualifying
Speaking to Canal+, Charles Leclerc acknowledged the strength of his team-mate’s performance and accepted responsibility for his own difficulties as the track conditions changed between Q1 and Q3.
Charles Leclerc: “Lewis did an extremely good lap and I think he managed to put everything together, so well done to him. On my side, I didn’t anticipate the track evolution between Q1 and Q3. The more I pushed, the more I felt that…”
Charles Leclerc then explained how his preferred front-end characteristics became increasingly difficult to manage once qualifying reached its decisive phase.
Charles Leclerc: “I like cars with a lot of front end, but once we got to Q3 and I was pushing in the first sector, then in the second and third I was losing the rear and paying the price for that. The further qualifying went, the more I struggled with understeer. My fault, but it won’t have an impact on the race.”
The changing balance helps explain why Charles Leclerc could not reproduce the level of performance that Lewis Hamilton extracted from the SF-26 in the final qualifying runs. For continued coverage of the Monegasque throughout the season, ScuderiaFans has a dedicated Charles Leclerc Ferrari news section.
Charles Leclerc sees a Ferrari podium chance at Sepang
Despite the qualifying setback, Charles Leclerc remains confident about Ferrari’s prospects for the Grand Prix. Asked whether a podium was possible, he said everything seen so far during the weekend suggested the Scuderia should be in contention.
Charles Leclerc: “Podium possibility? Clearly yes. Everything we have seen so far gives us hope that we will be in the fight tomorrow. Mercedes is the most difficult to predict. They have had sessions where they were extremely fast and others where they were less so. I expect them to be quick in the race. If they recover the performance we saw at certain points in the sessions, they will be difficult to beat. Otherwise, it will be interesting, both from a strategic point of view and if it rains.”
Mercedes therefore remains the main unknown in Charles Leclerc’s assessment of the race picture. The Ferrari driver had already warned during the Sepang weekend that the German team should not be underestimated, a concern explored further in his comments on Ferrari’s expectations of Mercedes at Sepang.
With Lewis Hamilton starting from the front row and Charles Leclerc promoted to fourth, Ferrari will have both cars positioned near the front of the grid. For the Monegasque, the qualifying problems are not expected to carry over into the Grand Prix, leaving him confident that a podium challenge remains possible.
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