Leclerc says he was sliding at the rear in Sepang Q3

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After Saturday's qualifying at Sepang, Charles Leclerc said he was sliding at the rear from sector two onwards in Q3 and thought his setup may have been slightly too aggressive. He qualified fifth but was listed fourth on Sunday's starting grid after Isack Hadjar's power-unit penalty.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · 05 Oct 2026, 13:43 · 1 min

After Saturday's qualifying at Sepang, Charles Leclerc said the session had not gone well, particularly Q3. He reported sliding at the rear from sector two onwards and thought he may have been a little too aggressive with the setup, but said P4 was not a bad place to start.

The FIA's final classification placed Leclerc fifth in qualifying, while the starting grid for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia listed him fourth. Isack Hadjar, who qualified third, dropped to eighth on the grid after a power-unit penalty, moving Leclerc up one place.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said Leclerc had the pace to set a lap time very close to Lewis Hamilton's, but Leclerc had not put everything together on his final attempt. Hamilton qualified second at 1:35.428; Leclerc's 1:35.666 was 0.238 seconds slower.

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