Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be starting on the second row in P4 at the 2026 F1 Malaysia event. The Monegasque concluded the session with a fastest lap of 1:35.666, 0.536s behind pole sitter Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Nonetheless, reflecting on his performance in qualifying, Leclerc is confident that he is still in contention for a race win at the 2026 F1 Malaysia event.
Leclerc reflects on qualifying performance at 2026 F1 Malaysia event
Leclerc shared his insights on his performance in qualifying at the 2026 F1 Malaysia round, explaining why he struggled in the middle sector in Q3, and the performance deficit to teammate Lewis Hamilton who was 0.238s faster.
According to the Monegasque, despite a strong start in Q1 when he was 3rd, he soon struggled with rear tyres overheating in Q2, which led him to push his Ferrari harder. By Q3, Leclerc recounted facing balance issues and overheating rear tyres having gone aggressive on car set-up.
“I can only speak for me, really. And I think Lewis did a really, really good job in Q3 as well. But on my side I was very happy in Q1, starting to struggle a little bit more in Q2 with the rear overheating. I was quite aggressive with the set-up and I knew it, and then coming to Q3. Unfortunately, the more I pushed, the more I was overheating the rears and I kind of lost quite a bit of performance going into Q3, but it’s the way it is at the end.”
Regardless, the 28-year-old remains optimistic that he is in an ideal position to fight for a victory at the 2026 F1 Malaysia round. He added that with the nature of the Sepang International Circuit, tyre management and strategy will play a vital role in securing a win.
“Fourth place is good enough to fight on the front for more, and particularly on a track where tyre overheating, tyre degradation, strategy will play such an important role, I still consider us in the fight.”
Setting the stage for an exciting 2026 F1 Malaysia round
Leclerc also admitted that it was tough to judge how his rivals would perform ahead of the 2026 F1 Malaysia round. As reflected by the Monegasque, while there have been flashes of strong pace from Ferrari’s two main competitors, Mercedes and Red Bull, it has been difficult to understand where they stand.
Nonetheless, Leclerc reiterated that he believes Ferrari has the pace and performance to fight them.
“Yes, I think so. Then it’s very difficult to understand because people, all people do different things during free practises, and it’s very difficult to get a clear picture of what’s going on. There’s been some impressive laps by Mercedes here and there, there’s been some impressive laps by Red Bull here and there. But I feel like we are in the mix at least to fight with them.”
The nine-time race winner also believes this uncertainty sets the stage for an exciting 2026 F1 Malaysia race. As the majority of the grid, including Ferrari, are experimenting with tyre allocation to adapt to the high-degradation nature of the Sepang International Circuit. Leclerc has two new softs for the race, one more than Hamilton and Verstappen. The other main runners have more mediums and hards available.
“I hope I’m not wrong, but I think it will create a bit more of an exciting race tomorrow with different strategies available, we’ve already seen different drivers doing different things with the tyre allocation, including me obviously. So, if we do the right thing, there’s obviously a lot of potential to do something special when degradation is so high.“
On Red Bull’s improvement in performance
Leclerc was also asked about Red Bull’s recent improvement in pace with Max Verstappen clinching his first pole of the season and Isack Hadjar qualifying in P3 before the penalty. The Monegasque shared his opinions on the Milton Keynes outfit’s performance at the 2026 F1 Malaysia event, reflecting that the team has shown flashes of strong pace.
He added that this meant Ferrari will have to bring upgrades in the following rounds to make sure they stay in contention. Nonetheless, looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Malaysia round, he is confident that Ferrari will be able to match Red Bull, using Hamilton’s Q3 lap as evidence of their pace.
“Now it’s a few weekends that they are more competitive, it looks like they are doing something well for sure, the whole weekend they’ve been very strong and it’s both cars being very strong, so we’ve got to work, we know that.
“And we’ve got to bring upgrades as soon as possible to not lose too much of the fight with them. But it’s also true that this weekend, particularly if you look at Lewis’ lap in Q3, we are not so far [away]. But we need to bring more.”
On Mercedes’ performance at the 2026 F1 Malaysia round thus far
The nine-time race winner was also asked about Mercedes’ performance at the 2026 F1 Malaysia round so far. Although Mercedes came into the weekend with a major upgrade package, the Brackley outfit has struggled throughout the weekend thus far despite flashes of pace.
Leclerc shared that while he is wary of Mercedes given Kimi Antonelli‘s strong pace in FP3, he believes Ferrari should take full advantage if Mercedes continues to struggle in the 2026 F1 Malaysia round.
“Yeah, as I said it’s been a bit of a strange weekend I think for Mercedes, they’ve been extremely strong in some laps and struggling in some others, so if they manage to repeat the extremely strong lap I think it’s going to be difficult to beat them tomorrow, but if there’s an opportunity for us to capitalise on them being a little bit more inconsistent this weekend, we need to take that opportunity.”
