Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has said that his team 'lost the rhythm' in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying after a change in strategy.
His Q2 time would have been enough to beat Max Verstappen's pole position time, but the Monegasque driver could not put a good enough lap together in Q3 to beat the Dutchman.
Part of the reason for Leclerc's poor qualifying-to-race result record in 2023 was down to poor strategy decisions from Ferrari, an issue that was even more prominent during the 2022 season.
In this first qualifying session of the year, the team decided to send their star man out on a set of used tyres in Q3, before getting a fresh shiny set for a second bite at the cherry.
Leclerc believes that this led to a loss of momentum in the fight against Verstappen.
"I'm disappointed, but it's a good qualifying. We are in a better place than last year," the Monegasque driver said after qualifying.
"Pole was there in the car, I think we lost the rhythm with the used set in Q3.
"I'm confident we did a step forward in race pace, but we have to wait until tomorrow."
Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok took to X to explain to fans that the fight between Red Bull and Ferrari - in qualifying at least - may be a lot closer than it seems, despite Verstappen claiming pole by two tenths of a second.
Very interesting Quali - sadly we didn’t see the best from Leclerc in Q3.
His Q2 time would have been good enough for pole - one hundredth ahead of Max so it’s definitely closer than everyone expected.