Charles Leclerc has stated Ferrari are “struggling as soon as once more this weekend” having solely certified ninth for the Qatar Dash, whereas crew mate Lewis Hamilton was P18 on a tough Friday.
The Monegasque driver struggled for tempo across the Lusail Worldwide Circuit, ending solely eighth within the single one-hour Free Apply session forward of Dash Qualifying.
Whereas crew mate Hamilton was unable to progress past the opening phase of Qualifying, Leclerc managed to achieve SQ3 and posted a lap adequate for ninth on the grid forward of Saturday’s 19-lap Dash.
The Ferrari driver admitted that whereas a preparation lap for Carlos Sainz’s Williams forward was removed from very best, it finally did not make a big distinction compared with the main tempo of the McLaren pair and George Russell’s Mercedes.
“The final lap I believe [Sainz] was taking fairly a big hole to the automobile forward simply earlier than Security Automotive line 2 after which clearly it places all the fellows behind underneath stress,” stated Leclerc.
“He has the suitable to do this nevertheless it’s very annoying and it is a however pointless typically. It is a disgrace.
“I needed to begin the lap too shut and once you see the hole between the highest 5 and us, you possibly can say that would have been a greater Qualifying.
“However other than that, we’re very gradual and we’re struggling as soon as once more this weekend. It is a powerful one once more.
“I believe it was just a few hundredths to Yuki [Tsunoda] in P5 or a tenth, one thing like that. I believe there was potential to do this. However, we have been struggling… it has been a tough weekend to date.”
Leclerc has failed to achieve the rostrum within the final two Grands Prix at Sao Paulo and Las Vegas, with Ferrari now 13 and 53 factors behind Crimson Bull and Mercedes respectively within the Groups’ Championship.
