Charles Leclerc conceded it was “again to actuality” for Ferrari after a decisive blow within the race for the F1 constructors’ title on the Qatar Grand Prix.
Heading into dash qualifying, Ferrari seemed like they have been in a great place to problem for pole place.
Leclerc set a powerful tempo in FP1 forward of the 2 McLarens, whereas teammate Carlos Sainz was in fourth.
Nonetheless, their problem for pole faltered, with McLaren having the higher hand in Qatar.
Lando Norris secured pole forward of Mercedes’ George Russell, whereas Leclerc was compelled to accept fifth on the grid.
Reflecting on qualifying, Leclerc admitted it was “again to actuality” after FP1.
“Properly not good as a result of while you give all of it clearly and we’re solely I believe P4 and P5 it’s not nice contemplating how necessary this weekend is for us,” Leclerc stated.
“Let’s say that for no matter cause FP1 was rather a lot above our expectations. This I might say is in step with what we anticipated. We’re coming again to actuality.
“Clearly after FP1 there have been hopes that we might do one thing higher however we didn’t.”
Assessing Ferrari’s probabilities within the dash, he stated: “If we take a look at FP1, clearly, sure. If we take a look at qualifying, no. For now, essentially the most consultant is qualifying. We’re not in one of the best place however we by no means know. It’s at all times totally different on race day.”
Sainz left to rue extreme understeer
On the opposite facet of the Ferrari storage, Sainz secured his finest dash qualifying results of the season.
He’ll begin Saturday’s shorter race from fourth on the grid.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t plain-sailing for Sainz, who suffered from understeer all through the session.
“Yeah, sadly, we have been in a state of affairs the place I went into sector 1 and sector 2 with Max in entrance and he was making ready his tyres, so I had fairly a little bit of soiled air following him round,” Sainz defined.
“On high of that, the automobile steadiness was simply off. We picked up a whole lot of understeer from the medium tyre, which meant we have been simply merely struggling to show the automobile.
“Then I wanted to chill the tyres for a few laps, and after I went once more, the understeering steadiness was nonetheless there, however I wanted to place a lap in and that was sufficient for earlier than.
“It was not simple underneath stress, but additionally with that steadiness, understeering off the monitor was fairly simple right into a monitor restrict, however we obtained it completed. And yeah, we simply know what we have to enhance for tomorrow.”
