Leclerc explains Vettel hurry-up messages in French GP qualifying

Leclerc, who qualified third, asked Ferrari twice to encourage Vettel - in the car immediately ahead of him - to speed up and open a bigger gap.

While he explained that Vettel had not compromised any of his laps, Leclerc said he was worried on two occasions that he would not start flying laps before the chequered flag was shown.

"No, not at all," he said, when asked if he had been put off by Vettel.

"The only thing is that I think twice, I can't remember when exactly, we were very tight on time to go through the finish line.

"So that's why I asked the team to say to Seb to just push, because I would be very tight on time, so that was the only reason.

"But no, he of course didn't compromise my qualifying."

Leclerc's fastest time in Q3 was 0.646 seconds slower than polesitter Lewis Hamilton's, and he said he felt least comfortable with the Ferrari in the more technical final sector.

His best time in sector three was around two tenths of a second slower than Hamilton's.

"I think it is general grip around the corners, to be honest," added Leclerc.

"We're quite quick in the straights, but in the corners, struggling a bit more. This weekend there is something interesting that we didn't understand completely yet.

"In sector one or two we don't seem to be too far off, or at least during the weekend in FP1, FP2 and FP3, but in sector 3 we are losing quite a lot actually, most of the time.

"We need to work on that, and try to understand where is the issue."

However, Leclerc insisted he was pleased with his qualifying performance, particularly compared to recent races.

"I was completely aware that my weak point in the last few grands prix was putting the car in right window for Q3, so I worked on that and happy to see improvement," he said.