Ferrari advantage in the Grand Prix? That’s what Charles Leclerc is hoping for after qualifying frustration

The Formula 1 qualifying session in Austin ended on a disappointing note for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari star made no secret of his frustration and also revealed what advantage he is hoping for in the 18th Grand Prix of the season.

When the battle for the top 10 starting positions was in full swing during qualifying in Austin, Charles Leclerc suddenly found himself no longer among the pole position contenders. The Ferrari driver had set the second-fastest lap in Q1 and had even finished the subsequent segment of the final practice session as the fastest. But when it really mattered, the hoped-for improvement failed to materialise. As a result, the Monegasque had to settle for fourth place.

“That’s very disappointing, because I think we’ve seen on other weekends that we were quick in free practice, but as soon as qualifying began, it quickly became clear that our rivals had much more speed on the straights, so it became very difficult for us to keep up with them. This time, though, I felt that our car had the potential to fight at the very front. But unfortunately, the tyres are also part of the car, and in Q3 we simply weren’t in a good position anymore. It was only one or two degrees cooler, but that made a huge difference to me. I was already struggling on the way to my fast lap; I was sliding around a lot, and that’s why it became difficult afterwards,” lamented Leclerc after the qualifying session.

Ferrari: Tyre temperatures caused headaches in qualifying

“It’s quite frustrating when things turn out like this, but it happens for certain reasons, and that’s why I think we simply need to work harder and understand these tyres better. It’s a bit easier for the other drivers to set the fastest time in Q3, and as soon as we’re even slightly outside the operating window with our car, we pay a heavy price. We need to tackle that,” the 29-year-old insisted. “It’s even more frustrating when we look at the lap times in the second qualifying session – the gap was just under a tenth – and I thought I’d take another step forward in Q3, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” he added with a sigh.

At least the qualifying disadvantage could work in his favour in the race, Leclerc realises. “For some reason, it’s difficult for our car to get the tyres up to temperature. That’s an advantage on race day, but in qualifying it makes our job harder when the temperatures drop. I don’t know how big the advantage will be. But things should go a bit better for us in that respect; we won’t be plagued by the same problems as in the final practice session.”

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Austin: Das Rennen

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25.10.2026 - 19:30