The five-time world champion edged Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas' leading time with seconds remaining to top qualifying Saturday in 1 minute, 20.486 seconds.
The five-time Formula One world champion topped the time sheets in both practice sessions Friday and followed up by recording the quickest lap time of 1 minute, 22.292 seconds.
Charlie Whiting died in Melbourne from a pulmonary embolism on Thursday, three days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Bottas competed with Hamilton on occasions last season but a mixture of bad luck, tentativeness and team orders saw him finish the year with seven second-place finishes and no wins.
The season-opening race is next Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Leclerc's stoppage was nothing compared to the scare that Vettel had on Wednesday, when he crashed into a barrier and needed to be checked out by medical staff.
Vettel, the runner-up to the title last season, clocked the fastest time, was the busiest driver with 169 laps and, most importantly, felt right at home behind the wheel of his new Ferrari.
Alfa Romeo has unveiled the new Formula One car that will be piloted by former champion Kimi Raikkonen this season.
McLaren launched its car for the 2019 Formula One (F1) season at its technology centre in Woking, England, as Carlos Sainz was on hand for the event.
Twenty-one year old Leclerc is being touted as a future world champion after an impressive debut season with Sauber last year.
The Azerbaijan street circuit was widely considered an unlikely F1 host when it held its first race in 2016 but has won popularity with fans after some unpredictable races.
Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen talked about babies, practice and lots more.
Leclerc will race alongside four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in 2019 at Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel led Hamilton by eight points after 10 of 21 races and 4-3 in wins, only to lose by 88 points overall and 11-5 in races won.
Lewis Hamilton said that he loves India and the culture of the country and whatever he had said earlier was not to demean the country.
It was a symbolic finish to a season where, again, Hamilton showed his superiority under pressure to beat Vettel into second place overall for the second straight year.
Robert Kubica said he will be racing for the Williams team next year, a remarkable comeback considering he almost lost his right hand in a rally accident in 2011.
Kubica's career is finally back on track as he will be joining English driver George Russell with Williams Martini in the team's line-up for 2019.
Hamilton's comments came in the wake of Formula One's decision to hold its first ever Grand Prix in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on a street circuit in 2020.
Verstappen finished second in the race, which was won by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. The collision happened on lap 44 at Interlagos when backmarker Ocon was trying to overtake to unlap himself.
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