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Leclerc confident after shock Ferrari performance

The Ferrari driver was surprised at how competitive the team was during qualifying.

Charles Leclerc is confident Ferrari can pull off a win in the Singapore Grand Prix, following a dramatic exit for Red Bull in qualifying. The Ferrari driver will start from third on the grid after getting beaten by George Russell in the dying moments of Q3 to second, with team-mate Carlos Sainz earning a second straight pole by just 0.072s. When asked about his final attempt, Leclerc told media: "It's extremely difficult everywhere, but here probably even more so with the tyre temperatures and the overheating throughout the lap. "It's always a balance between the first and the last sector. But everything was super close, Mercedes was really strong today too, so it was an interesting qualifying. "Unfortunately, I missed out just a little bit to gain few positions. But again, Carlos did a great job, one-three for the team tomorrow and let's see what we can do."

Leclerc optimistic about tyre wear

Leclerc expects one of the toughest races on the calendar to affect all the drivers, despite the shortened lap time which will impact the total overall race distance. "The physical challenge tomorrow is going to be something for sure, it's extremely humid. But until now we've had a very good performance. "Honestly, we did not expect to be so competitive on a track like this, so this is a good sign for the future but let's see what we can do." Ferrari has historically suffered from some of the highest tyre degradation on the grid, but Leclerc is optimistic it will not affect the team. He added: "We've looked quite strong all weekend, so hopefully we won't see that."

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