McLaren are leading the constructor's championship but are only 29 points ahead of Ferrari, with Leclerc an obvious threat and team mate Carlos Sainz qualifying fifth and Mercedes' George Russell sixth.
McLaren's Lando Norris swept to victory in a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off defending champion Max Verstappen in a white-knuckle finish to a Formula One season-opener littered with crashes and safety cars.
McLaren could clinch their first constructors' crown since 1998 on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by 21 points at the Qatar F1 Grand Prix.
Seven-times World champion Lewis Hamilton, Formula One's most successful driver of all time, will race for Ferrari from 2025.
Max Verstappen, who could seal his fourth successive championship on Saturday, will line up fifth on the starting grid
Verstappen struggled for grip through qualifying but it all came together in his last effort
Sainz took the first pole position of his Formula One career in a wet qualifying for the British Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won Formula One's first Chinese Grand Prix in five years on Sunday.
The Thai's victory over his Ferrari rival gave Red Bull something to celebrate on a day that should have seen the return of Max Verstappen's home Dutch Grand Prix after a 35-year absence.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
Lando Norris roared to his second successive pole position, and third in four races, in a McLaren front row sweep with team mate Oscar Piastri
Red Bull's triple World champion Max Verstappen wrapped up a year of unprecedented dominance with his record-extending 19th win in 22 races at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Lando Norris led a McLaren front row sweep in qualifying for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday
Verstappen, who started sixth after a five-place grid penalty, extended his championship lead over Perez to 125 points after taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds ahead of the Mexican.
Verstappen hustled his Honda-powered Red Bull around the popular figure-of-eight layout in one minute, 29.304 seconds
Max Verstappen held off a late charge by McLaren's Lando Norris to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won the first sprint race of the Formula One season at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton will bring down the curtain on his Mercedes career in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as his past and future Formula One teams, McLaren and Ferrari, fight for a constructors' title to end years of waiting.
World champion Max Verstappen got back to winning ways on Sunday with a third straight pole-to-flag victory at the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix, leading teammate Sergio Perez across the line for a Red Bull 1-2 at Suzuka.
Seven drivers, including Charles Leclerc, remained standing last weekend.
Lando Norris put McLaren on pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday
Red Bull's Max Verstappen equalled Ayrton Senna's record of eight pole positions in a row.
World champion Max Verstappen took maximum points from Formula One's Imola sprint weekend, leading a Red Bull one-two on Sunday as Ferrari's homecoming turned sour for overall leader Charles Leclerc and his Italian team.
The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said the pair remain free to fight on track and if either is clearly faster than the other would be given preference.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen dealt Lando Norris a shattering blow in their Formula One title battle by winning a wet and chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid.
Rising Indian driver Jaden R Pariat has been invited to the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) selection trials.
The Dutch driver won the race at Suzuka, with Leclerc demoted from second to third behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez for cutting the final chicane while defending from the Mexican on the last lap.
The youngest Ferrari race driver since 1961 proved he has what it takes to handle the weight of expectation that comes with driving for the sport's most successful and glamorous team.
McLaren's Lando Norris hailed the best qualifying lap of his career after beating F1 leader Max Verstappen to pole position at the US Grand Prix.
Triple Formula One world champion Verstappen missed out on pole because he set his time of one minute 12.000 seconds after his British rival in a drama-filled qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday to end Formula One leader Max Verstappen's record run of 10 wins in a row.
Mexican team mate Sergio Perez qualified second fastest in a front row lockout for Red Bull, 15 years after the team took their first win at the Shanghai International Circuit with Sebastian Vettel.
Mercedes driver George Russell has been disqualified and lost his Belgium Grand Prix win on Sunday, after his car was found to be underweight, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to first place.
Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with Alpine's Fernando Alonso leaping onto the front row alongside the Formula One championship leader in a wet qualifying on Saturday.
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for a third straight year at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, with Sergio Perez qualifying a close second to ensure a Red Bull front-row lockout.
Red Bull's Formula One World champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday with Carlos Sainz qualifying alongside on the front row for Ferrari two weeks after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.
Hamilton won Formula Three and GP2 (now Formula Two) championships with Vasseur's ART team in 2005 and 2006 before making a spectacular Formula One debut with McLaren in 2007.
Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen followed up a Saturday sprint win with a statement pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris again alongside on the front row.