Leclerc: There was potential to qualify in the top five.

Leclerc: There was potential to qualify in the top five.

      Charles Leclerc advanced to the sprint qualifying final in Qatar, where he set the ninth-fastest time. For his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton the session was once again unsuccessful — the seven-time world champion was eliminated in the first session with the eighteenth-fastest time.

      Charles Leclerc (9th): "Our qualifying could have been better. I think there was potential today to be in the top five. Before my last flying lap the car in front of me slowed down before Turn 15, so I couldn't build up enough of a gap and started the attempt too close to it. It's part of the game, but we were unlucky. In the sprint I'm going to attack and I hope for some interesting battles."

      Lewis Hamilton (18th): "A tough day. We tried several different setup options, but none of them worked. Tonight we'll carefully study the telemetry data and think about how to get back into the fight and perform better on Saturday."

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Leclerc: There was potential to qualify in the top five.

Charles Leclerc reached the final of sprint qualifying in Qatar, where he posted the ninth-best time. For his Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton, the session again went badly — the seven-time world champion was eliminated in the first session after posting the eighteenth-best time.