Ferrari had a strong Saturday as they secured a double podium in the Sprint earlier in the day at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing P2 and P3, respectively.
The positive momentum continued into qualifying as the Monegasque managed to secure a front row start. Leclerc fastest lap time of the session was 1:31.427, a mere 0.054s slower than pole sitter Max Verstappen.
Leclerc on finding more time in Q3 at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP
In Q1 ans Q2 at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Leclerc seemed to struggle to extract pace from his SF-26 and there was a significant deficit compared to teammate Lewis Hamilton across those sessions. Regardless, on his final flying lap attempt, the Monegasque was able to improve from his first Q3 run by more than two tenths, pipping the seven-time World Champion to P2.
Reflecting on where he found the extra pace, Leclerc revealed it was because he “committed” more in his final run. Despite eventually placing his Ferrari on the front row for the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Leclerc admitted that he struggled for the majority of the session. He then explained it was due to brake issues on his SF-26 that the team was only able to resolve ahead of Q3. Nonetheless, Leclerc believes his Ferrari had the potential to fight the Red Bull for pole.
“Well, just in commitment, I just committed a little bit more in Q3 last lap. I had a very difficult qualifying session. I mean, on the brakes, the car was pulling a little bit in Q1, Q2, in Q3, maybe slightly better. But I had this issue on braking that was taking off quite a lot of confidence. And in Q3, I just went for it no matter how it felt. And yeah, it paid off. But yeah, I just struggled to put everything together. I think the car had potential for pole today, but we didn’t have a smooth enough session in order to do the job. And Max just did a better job.”
Parts of the lap he could have improved
The nine-time race winner then shared an insight into the parts of his final lap where he lost significant time. According to him, they were Turns 13, as well as the 16 and 17 section of the Marina Bay Street Circuit. However, Leclerc also reflected that his lap “just wasn’t enough” to secure pole at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP.
“Yeah. I mean, Turn 13, Turn 16, 17. These probably are the two main ones. But yeah, I’m pretty sure that every driver has got something to gain, one corner or the other. So yeah, it just wasn’t enough.”
Looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Singapore GP
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Leclerc expressed his confidence in Ferrari’s long-run pace and stressed that a good launch at lights out would be vital in securing a victory. Despite only having done one Free Practice session due to the Sprint weekend format, he believes the SF-26 has the pace to fight for the win.
“Long run pace should be fine. I mean, I think in FP1, we didn’t do many laps consecutive, but the few we did, the feeling was great. So yeah, confident that we should be on the pace. The start will be very important. This morning, we didn’t have a great start, so we’ll have to make the perfect start tomorrow.”
