Charles Leclerc has added his voice to Formula 1's expanding chorus of complaints about the 2026 qualifying format, telling reporters at Suzuka that the new energy-deployment system is robbing the sport of the moment he loves most: a maximum-attack final lap in Q3.
The Ferrari driver was unusually direct in the post-qualifying press conference, openly endorsing any change the FIA can deliver to restore unfettered single-lap pace.
"Whatever solution that helps us to push at the maximum those cars, because that's what I love," Leclerc said. "That's what I love about these sports really, is when you get to Q3 and you have the maximum pressure on you to deliver at best at that moment, and you try and do a lap that you haven't done before. And at the moment, this is not possible."
The technical issue, according to Leclerc, is the way the 2026 power unit's electrical deployment maps update in real time to whatever the driver is doing. Push past the reference inputs the system was tuned for, and it punishes the very behaviour drivers are wired to deliver in qualifying.
"Coming into Q3, at least myself, that's how I approach qualifying since forever," he said. "You go into that last lap and you try things that are a little bit above whatever you've tried before. And when you do that, the system needs to reoptimise everything while you are driving. So for some reason whenever I get to Q3, I start losing pace."
The corner gain, lap-time loss
Drivers describe the same pattern across teams: a brave-pedal Q3 lap that gains time through the corners but loses far more on the straights as the deployment maps recalibrate. Lando Norris said earlier this season that watching the speed fall away on the straights "hurts your soul." Leclerc framed the cost differently — but no less starkly.
"I feel like this will be quite arrogant to say it like that, but surely I think for everybody, going into Q3 is just not the nicest feeling," the Monegasque continued. "Because we want to be at the limit of those cars, and whenever you play with those limits, not only do you pay the price of a small snap, but you also pay triple the price in the straight. And this is very frustrating."
FIA already on the case
Leclerc was careful to note that the problem is not unique to Ferrari, and that the governing body is engaged with it. Drivers across the grid have raised the same concern, and the FIA has signalled willingness to look at format tweaks once race-pace data has been gathered through the early flyaway races.
"I also know that the FIA is obviously trying to understand what are the things we can do to fix those issues going forward," Leclerc said, "because it's still something that everybody has."
For a driver whose qualifying record is one of the strongest reference points on the current grid — a man who built his Ferrari reputation on Saturday — the admission that Q3 has become an exercise in damage limitation rather than peak performance is, in itself, a verdict on the new rule set. The FIA's pre-Miami discussions on midseason adjustments now have one more named voice attached to them.
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